The Ties That Bind - Part 3 The Dragon
by theimpossiblegrrl
Summary: All things must come to an end. Severus and the Golden Trio work together to find Lia, now that the truth is out. The Half-Blood Prince must face the dragon ahead of them in order to save his Slytherin Princess. M for possible lemons and language and a little violence. EWE and AU of course, and a little fluff. Complete in 3 parts.
1. Prologue - Float

Part 3 – The Dragon

 _But if I know you, I know what you'll do  
_ _You'll love me at once  
_ _The way you did once upon a dream  
_ _–_ _Sleeping Beauty_

 _"_ _So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings."  
_ _―_ _J.R.R. Tolkien_

 _"_ _Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again."  
_ _–_ _Tori Amos_

* * *

Prologue - Float

She was dreaming.

No, she was in a dream world.

But, it wasn't that either.

Was she dead?

She didn't think so. Having been mostly dead once before, she remembered the way that felt … it didn't feel like this. That had felt like floating through air, heading towards the most beautiful light she'd ever seen, past the blackness flecked with copper that she'd wanted to escape into.

This felt odd, like she was underwater, moving through thick liquid with her hands tied behind her back.

There _was_ light up ahead, but it wasn't the kind of light that made her think it was the end of things. That light had been also been welcoming and warm, almost like Severus's touch was whenever they made love.

Severus … she knew that name. Memories of sad, hopeful black eyes came to her … then the eyes were no longer sad, they were calm and happy, at least as happy as he'd ever let on to be.

If she were able to she would have smiled. She loved that man - she always had and she always would.

The moth and the butterfly would always fly together, in the end ...

Severus … and who was she?

Names came out at her from the thickness around her. Was she Serena Black or Lia Selwyn? Amelia Stanfield came to her mind as well … then Lia Snape.

That was who she was. Lia Snape.

And Severus was, and always had been, her husband.

Where was she now? And where was he?

Nothingness surrounded her, though the light was close, closer, so close it was almost in reach. She could see a face peering at her through it, though it was veiled with something that looked like mist. She saw dark green eyes, though they didn't look like Harry's …

 _Who was Harry?_

Maybe it didn't matter.

She was drawn back to those incredibly dark green eyes, the color of the leaves during the summer. A face came to focus, a kind face surrounded by frizzy, brown hair, but it wasn't Hermione …

She smiled. She knew that name. Her best friend – the sister she'd always wanted.

But who was this, this odd woman whose eyes looked ten times larger than a normal woman's eyes, thanks to an enormous looking pair of glasses that perched on her face? She was so shiny, like the new, rebuilt school.

She remembered the old school, remembered who she was when she first walked through the halls at eighteen, looking for the dark man her mother had told her to seek out.

Professor Severus Snape.

Her husband.

Hogwarts.

France.

America.

Memory suddenly crashed into Lia's mind, and she wordlessly screamed into the liquid around her.

She remembered everything.

"Float, dear girl," the woman in the light said. "Concentrate and float. Free yourself from the physical body. Free your mind from its confines. You are stronger than you think. Free yourself."

The woman's voice was so odd, lilting and soft, but Lia concentrated on the words as though her life depended on it.

Maybe it did.

She focused on breaking free from the bindings, then realized that they were only in her mind. Her hands were free. The thick around her became thin, and she floated out of it.

But not to the light, not that light. It _was_ there after all, but she ran from it and back to the real world.

No, she'd never go to that light.

Floating free, completely free, she sailed past the statues and the water, through the chasms and corridors.

Lia wasn't dead, not hardly. She was fully aware that she was very much alive.

But she was moving past her useless, corpselike body, trying to find a way to bring everything back together once more.

 _A/N: Not mine, no money (obviously). Let's go try to find the happily ever after, sort of._


	2. Cost

Chapter 1 - Cost

"Is he okay?"

"What happened?"

"Did you cast it right, Hermione?"

The small group gathered around Severus, who had staggered back and tripped over one of the chairs, landing himself flat on his back.

"Get away from me you idiots, I'm fine," he muttered as he stood back up and straightened his jacket. He looked back at the portrait of Dumbledore and saw Phineas was still standing next to him.

"I could rip your portraits to shreds for not telling me," Severus said, snarling at he walked up to where the portrait hung behind Minerva's desk. Looking only at Dumbledore, he said, "If I could get my hands on a Time Turner and go back to the night I killed you, believe me it would _not_ have done as quickly and cleanly as it was."

"Severus, please," Hermione said, anxiously. She walked over to where he was standing, but he shook his head at her as though warning her away from him. She stilled, holding her hand out for Ron, who grabbed it quickly. Severus saw her covertly pull out her wand again. The sight triggered whatever humor was left in his mind.

As if she could truly disarm him if she tried.

He looked back to the portrait and suppressed the desire to scream at the top of his lungs when he saw Dumbledore still looking as calmly down at him as he had for the entire year he was Headmaster. It infuriated him.

"How could you do that to me? How could you take away everything that was good in my life and leave me the same emptiness I've felt for my _entire life_? What explanation could you possibly have?"

"What happened, Severus?" Minerva asked. She took his arm as though she wanted to comfort him, but he shook it off quickly.

"She's my wife," he quietly said, afraid his voice would break or that he would start sobbing like a child.

"What?" asked Hermione, stunned. She sat down hard in the chair behind her.

"Lia Stanfield is my wife. Her real name is Lia Selwyn."

Ron looked alarmed. "George's date to the TriWizard Tournament?"

"Yes," Severus said, narrowing his eyes at the redhead. He looked down at the picture of her that night where it had fallen on the floor. He picked it up, along with her wand and the picture of their binding.

"George was crazy about her, you remember?" he asked Hermione.

She shook her head. "I don't. I was so wrapped up in trying to impress Viktor that I didn't really notice anything or anyone else."

"Don't you remember her, Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry approached Severus carefully and looked at the pictures, then shook his head. "I guess I was too busy with everything else that night."

Ron caught Severus's eye. "George always wondered why it didn't work out with them. She dropped him flat after the Ball. It'll drive him nuts to know that you got his girl."

Severus frowned and cocked his head to the side contemptuously.

"It's true," Ron said.

Shaking his head and trying his best not to roll his eyes, Severus looked to Minerva and asked, "Do you remember that beautiful Beauxbatons student who spoke to me the night of the first Yule Ball?" He watched her try to draw into her memories before she nodded faintly. "She was English, studying there because of family tradition even though she would have rather gone to Hogwarts. I was tutoring her in Defense since Madame refused to have the subject taught there at the time. She was a 7th year, and our relationship became … romantic," he said. He gently laid the pictures and wand on his old desk, then grabbed the back of the chair next to him with both hands and squeezed.

"She's my twin flame."

"But your Patronus is the doe. I've seen it," said Harry. "Hers is the butterfly – I remember her telling me that at Christmas."

Severus did roll his eyes now.

"It _was_ the Death's Head Hawkmoth, before your mother died. And it _was_ again, after I met my …" he couldn't finish. His throat was getting tight, even though the damage from the bite hadn't bothered him in years. He was going to say his "true love", but he found he just couldn't get the words out without pain. The memory of her singing to him hit him hard, and he closed his eyes, remembering how she looked when they waltzed around his rooms to a song about love and dreams.

"What's that?" Ron asked. "A Hawk-mouth? Is that a bird?"

"No," Severus said, opening his eyes. He was as close to exasperation as he was when he used to teach the boy in class. "Gods, how you two became …"

He took a deep breath and pulled out his wand, remembering his and Lia's first kiss as well as the first time his mother let him cast a charm from her old wand.

" _Expecto Patronum."_

The moth flew from his wand as though it had been trying to break free from Azkaban, flying around the room until it slid through a crack in the window and disappeared from sight.

"Severus?" Dumbledore called out to him.

He looked up morosely in answer, hating that the butterfly was not there to greet its mate once more.

How had he forgotten who he once was? That good man, well relatively good compared to what came next, left the second they took the Portkey back to Diagon Alley. Who could he have been if he'd known? How could things have been different if he remembered her?

He scowled as he realized the reason he would never know he answers was represented in the portrait before him.

"One of the saddest moments of my life was when I realized just how deeply Confunded I'd made you. When I saw that silver doe leap around the office, I thought all was lost," Dumbledore said softly.

"And yet you did nothing to change it," Severus pointed out, grabbing the chair back in front of him once more.

"No," Dumbledore said. "There was too much at stake."

"Did you know she was pregnant? Because neither of us realized it," Severus said, his voice giving out completely as a weak sob entered his chest. He pulled her locket out from its hiding place under his coat. He'd worn it every day since she'd disappeared.

Now, he saw it change before his eyes. The face of the locket now had an inscription that read "Love, Mum". The picture she'd thought to be of her mother became her real mother, Sarah, who waved at him knowingly. The photo of Lia as a baby became another older picture of Lia, as she was when they'd first met.

Only the last picture of the vague little form, _their_ child, remained the same.

Not the child of Sam Stanfield – she had been Severus's own never-born child.

The little butterfly.

"Gods," he whispered, dropping to his knees once more. He felt dizzy with grief over the child he never knew was his and had never realized he wanted.

"I don't think I knew, Severus," Dumbledore said sadly. "I think I would have changed things if I had. I take it she lost the –"

Severus nodded sharply, before he felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. He looked up and saw Hermione leaning over to comfort him, and this time he accepted it.

"I'm so sorry, Severus," she whispered gently.

He inhaled sharply through his nose before he felt the tears begin to roll down his cheeks. The hands became her entire body as she crouched down next to him and held him as though he was five years old again. He let her, as grateful for her kindness as he had been the day she saved his life.

"Thank you," he said, staring hard at the pictures in the locket before he put it back in his coat and shirt, letting it rest next to his skin.

"Why did you have to hide her?" asked Hermione. She refused to look at the portrait, instead directing her question at Severus.

"After the Third Task, her mother was murdered at the hands of the Dark Lord and we found out that she was his – she _is_ the Dark Lord's-" Severus said, struggling with the answer, still unable to believe it since that part of his mind had been frozen for fourteen years.

"She is Tom Riddle's granddaughter," Dumbledore finished.

Hermione paled and put a hand over her mouth. She moved to sit back in the chair she'd vacated, and Severus stood again next to her, his protective hand on one shoulder and Ron's on the other.

"We had to protect her from him and from whatever plan he had for her if he managed to find her. I performed their hand fasting ceremony, as well as a binding, in this very office before we sent her to America and Confunded her."

"That's not all you did, Albus," Severus snarled. "It's time to confess your sins."

The portrait of Albus Dumbledore did not look even remotely remorseful when he said, "I Confunded Severus when he decided to stay with her."

Minerva looked shocked. She hammered her hand on her desk in irritation. "That's a lot of lives you've played with, Albus. Why not let Severus stay with her?"

"Minerva," Dumbledore said as he sat down in his painted chair, "I was _not_ a perfect man, and sometimes I wasn't even a _good_ man at that. I think I demonstrated that repeatedly over the course of our friendship, and indeed my life. But, one thing I always attempted to do, regardless of the cost, was protect my family. But it always came at a price."

"You did a marvelous job protecting your sister," Severus said nastily, the accusation in his tone vicious and biting.

"I'm speaking of the years after the terrible accident that took Arianna's life," Dumbledore said evenly. "I am speaking of my children and grandchildren," he said, no longer looking at Severus.

He was looking straight into the green eyes of Harry Potter.

"Me?" Harry asked. "What on earth are you talking about, sir? You were a bachelor."

Dumbledore smiled tiredly. "No, Harry. I wasn't. When I was still a very young man, not long after Arianna died, I decided that I should marry. I was introduced to one of the kindest, gentlest witches I had ever met at a party at the Ministry, and we eloped soon after. Unfortunately, her father was the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. He threatened to remove her from the family tree as our elopement created such a scandal in his circle of influence. Of course, that didn't matter to either of us. But, when she died in childbirth, he and his wife decided to raise our twin girls as their own. At the time, I had no reputation or money. I was powerless to stop them."

"Dreadful man, that Peter Crabbe," said Phineas, who had returned to his portrait. "Never had a good bone in his body. Still doesn't. Meanest portrait at the Ministry."

Dumbledore nodded. "My daughters were separated years later, when the Headmaster of Beauxbatons discovered that one them, Fiona, was a squib. She _was_ removed from the family tree and sent to a finishing school, Obliviated into thinking she was an orphan."

Dumbledore looked at Harry.

"Fiona was your great grandmother, Harry. And her sister, Bianca, was Lia's."

* * *

Harry looked around the room before he looked back to Dumbledore.

Snape was holding himself with such tension that Harry thought he could snap himself in half if he tried to bend over. He looked even more ill than he first walked into the room. His face was so pale against his black robes it reminded him of a waning moon.

Minerva was at her desk, her mouth open. It was a difficult thing to render her speechless, something even more difficult to do than ...

He looked over at Hermione. She was still in the seat before Minerva's desk, between Severus and Ron, the latter trying to comfort her as tears ran down her face.

"Why …" Harry stopped and looked away before he could continue.

It was too much to take in. Too much information had been heaped into him, as well as the rest of the group, at one time. He was having difficulty processing everything.

He turned his back to everyone and took a seat on the step that elevated the Head's desk from the rest of the room and put his head in his hands.

"I'd imagine you have some questions, Harry," Dumbledore said.

"Well, you'd be wrong," Harry said. He did not lift his head when he answered. "I think I've run out of questions and thoughts for today."

"I have a question," Hermione said.

Harry heard Severus snort. He looked over his shoulder at the scene and saw her looking up at the portrait for the first time the truth came out.

"Actually, I have two questions. Why not tell Harry this when you were still alive? And why not tell Lia when she was here for the TriWizard tournament?"

"Would you have had me give Harry that knowledge when Lord Voldemort possessed gateway into his mind? It would have served as yet another tool for him to use to try to destroy Harry," Dumbledore said, looking over her shoulder at Harry, who scowled in response.

"I couldn't take that chance, though I tried in all my power to protect him as much as I could so that he could complete his final task."

Dumbledore looked back down at Hermione. "Lia actually does know. Shortly after I performed their binding she realized that _I_ was the hated Professor that caused the tradition of her ancestral line to attend Beauxbatons. It didn't take her long to make the connection as to why."

"She was the brightest witch from her generation at Beauxbatons," Severus said tightly.

"That she was," Dumbledore agreed.

Silence filled the office briefly, until Severus sighed, breaking the spell.

"If you have a suggestion on how to find her, Albus, I'd be glad to hear it."

"I have a suggestion, actually," said Ron. "I've been thinking, with her coming from one of the Pure-blood lines that have the old manor homes, we ought to look there and see if anyone's been by. Worth a shot, at least."

"Selwyn Manor has been abandoned since her mother died. _As far as anyone knows,_ " said Dumbledore.

"That's a great idea, Ron," Hermione said, smothering a proud grin.

"Always a tone of surprise," Ron said, grinning shyly at his wife. He took her hand in his and kissed it gently.

"I may vomit," Severus said, straightening up and walking to the door. "Let's leave now."

Harry nodded, sending one last scowl to the portrait behind Minerva's desk before he followed him out of the room.


	3. Room

Chapter 2 - Room

Severus walked down the winding staircase, at first filled with the desire to run as fast as he could to the Apparation point just outside the main gates. But instead, he made a right hand turn instead of the left that would have taken him to the next set of stairs.

When he was in the corridor past the Hall of Hexes, he walked back and forth in front of the smooth wall, silently asking it to provide the version of itself that it had been when she lived there for six weeks during Potter's 4th Year. He stopped as the wall began to change into the solid oak door from his memory. He raised his hand to knock before he stopped himself, using his hand instead to turn the knob and walk in.

It was exactly as they left it that morning after they'd returned for her to dress and pack up the few things that Lia had been able to take with her.

The huge bed still sat on the left of the room next to the fireplace, which was now cold and unused. He sat the pictures and her wand on the desk and walked to the bed. Sitting on the familiar green coverlet, he reached underneath her pillow, finding one of his fine white linen shirts. She'd insisted on having one to sleep with on the nights that he was late getting back due to a Summons or a meeting of the Order. When brought it to his face, he still smelled traces of her perfume mixed faintly with his cologne. He grabbed her pillow next and buried his face in it, trying to absorb all the hints of her scent that still lingered there.

He marveled at the fact that she still smelled the same as she did then. Even after they'd ripped her of her memories, she still wore the same damn perfume she'd always worn. The scent of honey still lingered in it, brought on by drinking too much of it in her tea as well as ... he stirred when he thought of the way she tasted then and now, both her skin and her own essence.

 _Lavender_. Serenity, grace, and calmness. Mistrust only due the fact that there was once a belief that the ground it sprung from harbored the asp.

The irony was no longer lost on him.

Severus put down the pillow and walked to the wardrobe. He flung the doors open and saw her school uniforms, still pale blue and silky as though no time had passed at all. The little insane hats sat jauntily on the shelf above.

He saw a sliver of gray fabric behind her travelling cloak and grabbed it.

It was the dress she'd worn to their binding fourteen years ago. The Room's gift to her.

Memories of the expression on her face when she'd lowered the bodice from her chest raced through his mind, and he closed his eyes, almost able to feel her with him. He moaned as he remembered the way her skin felt in his hands, both then and now.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a brief flash of her blonde curls out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned his head to look, it was gone.

 _Maybe I'm finally losing what's left my mind._

He looked at the dress again and saw that she had tied the strips of cloth that had held their hands together that night to the hanger. Drops of their blood stained the material. He looked at his hand, wanting to see the cut again, but his hand had healed without a trace of damage thanks to Dumbledore's magic. He did see his wedding ring, which he was now able to wear with pride. He twisted it on his finger, much like Lia did hers.

The majority of her books were still stacked next to the desk. He saw titles of books on Magic mixed with the Muggle books she had taken an interest in, smiling when he picked up a copy of Advanced Potions Making and his own, personal copy of _Confronting the Faceless_. He'd assumed Potter or Granger had lifted it from his office, but now remembered that Lia had been reading it before she left.

He saw another flash, just outside of his field of vision, but this time he saw ginger waves that disappeared just as he turned his head.

He took the dress and the cloth and sat down on the bed, lost his memories of her.

* * *

When the hair on the back of his neck suddenly rose, he expected to see the brief visions again.

Severus looked up. At the door, were Potter and the Weasley's.

"Please ... just go," he said, staring at the cold hearth just before it was brought to life.

He looked at Hermione and saw her slyly stow away her wand.

"No," she said, taking a seat on the bed next to him.

"Granger," he warned, then sighing he corrected himself. "Hermione, I would like to be alone for a few more minutes."

"You've been in here for two hours," she said softly. She took the dress and cloth from his hands.

"I have?" He had lost track of time completely.

She nodded.

"Harry watched you come in and waited for you to leave. We had to conjure a few chairs," she said, trying to smile.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, looking at the bulge of her abdomen.

"I'm fine," she said with a sigh. "Just tired. It's been an emotional day for everyone, you especially."

He huffed and stared back down at the cloth in her hands.

"Is this where she lived that summer?"

He nodded vaguely.

She looked at the books by the desk. "She was as swotty then as she is now."

"She was," he said. "She was the best defense student I ever taught. She still is. Not that it saved her."

"It may yet," she said.

He shook his head. "She's dead, Hermione."

"Why do you think that?" she asked, grabbing his forearm tightly.

"Because …" he started, but found he could not complete the statement out loud.

 _Because everyone I've ever loved has died_.

"Stop it," Hermione said, squeezing his arm tighter.

He shook his head. "I can't fight the truth, or my fears. It was what I was most afraid of, after _he_ returned. I feared, more than anything, that one day I would find her just as I'd found Potter's mother."

"She's not dead," she whispered. "I can feel it."

He felt her stiffen before she looked up at the two men and mouthed the word, "Leave." They both silently nodded, though Ron looked back at her longingly before he walked out the door last, shutting it tightly.

"Have you still not told him?" Severus asked, taking her hand in his.

"What? That I accidentally bound you to me when I saved your miserable life?" She shook her head. "Of course not. It's bad enough that I know it."

He shook his head and cut his eyes at her. "He'll find out, sooner or later."

"No, he won't," she said, laughing lightly. "I love him with all my heart, but he's as thick as they come unless he's on a case. If he ever gets a file in front of him asking him to investigate the strange occurrence of me bringing you back after you had mostly died, believe me, the secret will finally be out."

He examined the scar on his left hand and the one on her right. He'd never bothered to try to heal it completely, though he could have, and neither had she.

They were small, both won during their own separate fights the night of the Battle of Hogwarts. When she had returned to the Shrieking Shack to remove his body, she'd found that his heart his still barely beating. When she'd touched her hand to his, checking for a pulse and saying a silent prayer to her own Muggle god, she'd unknowingly created a bond between them that was partly responsible for bringing him back from the grey void he'd been lost in.

The bond was not like his and Lia's, nor nearly as strong, but it was enough to keep their lives intertwined whether they liked it or not. Sometimes, he wondered if their connection was what it felt like to have a child. That thought always made him shudder, especially now that he knew why and how he'd been caught on fire so many years ago.

Since Lia's soul was so intricately entwined with his own, by being his twin flame as well as by their binding, he realized it had brought Hermione closer to her as well. He mentioned as much to her now, and she laughed in response.

"I guess so," she said. "But I won't say that's the only reason. She and I are a lot alike, in so many ways. I'd wager to say we would have been friends when she was here, if our paths had ever truly crossed."

Severus nodded. "You would have been. She was kind to everyone she ever met, that I noticed at least. And I watched her …"

"As much then as you did now?" she finished, smirking at him.

He nodded and sighed. "It may have been worse then. I was so lovesick over her, even though I wouldn't have called it that then. I once followed her, in the snow, from Gladrags to the Three Broomsticks, just to watch her move."

"Do you realize how lovesick she was over you the last year?" Hermione asked, her expression full of kind humor. "I'm sure she was the same then."

"She tricked me into kissing her, when she was younger," he said, remembering how sweet her lips had been against his. "It was her first kiss." He sighed, heavily, again before seeing just a flash of an emerald green MediWitch's uniform at the edge of the room.

It was gone of course, when he looked up.

"Lia isn't dead," Hermione said with conviction. "I'm guessing Dumbledore had you take an authentic blood oath to bind you together even more closely, like Wizard's did before we realized how dangerous it really was?"

"Is there anything you don't know?" he asked crossly, but nodded his head just the same.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You would know if she were really gone – your magic would change, and you'd be weaker. And I would feel it."

"I know, Hermione," he said. "I actually know, to some degree, what it feels like. If we could ask her, I think we'd find out that the fit I had in the Shack happened around the same time that she …" he couldn't finish that thought without tears coming to his eyes, and they came anyways.

He cursed and looked at the fire, the flames becoming blurry as he let his emotions flow.

"She survived," Hermione said, tightening her grip on his hand. "That's what matters. And she's surviving now, no matter what Narcissa may be doing to her."

He took a deep breath and stood up. He felt Hermione's eyes on his back as he walked over to the desk and retrieved Lia's wand, placing it next to his in his sleeve. It felt warm against his skin, as though it were begging to be used.

He looked up when Hermione gasped, placing her hand to her stomach. She grabbed Severus's hand and placed it there as well, and he felt the soft thumps of a foot kicking against it.

"Hermione," he said. "I know you plan on naming Rose after my mother."

She narrowed her eyes. "Ron has the biggest –"

"Let me finish," he said, raising a hand and deciding not to clue her in on his recent spying activity. "If you really want to honor me, name her after my wife."

Hermione was still for a minute before she said, "Which name should I use again?"

"Chit."

"Git."

He shook his head, holding in the first laughter he'd felt like expressing since he found Lia's rooms empty and full of smoke.

"Okay," she said, smiling softly as she looked up at him. "What does Lia really stand for?"

"Cordelia," he whispered brokenly.

"Rose Cordelia Weasley," she said, a tear running down the side of her face. She quickly wiped it away.

"A very fine name," he said. He unexpectedly felt pride fill his chest, but shook the feeling off.

Hermione frowned. Her lips started twitching as though she were trying to hold back laughter.

"What?" he asked flatly.

"Nothing, Severus."

"Out with it."

"Well," she started sheepishly, "I just realized that I thought I'd be naming Rose after your mother, then I started thinking that since I basically think of you as father and all –"

"Watch it," he said with a tone of warning.

She pursed her lips and continued. "I just realized Rose will be named after her grandmother after all." She tried to look very innocent when she said, "Although hopefully Lia won't try to tell me what to do like you do."

"I have a right mind not to –"

"What? Ground me? Or give me detention?"

Somewhere in the castle, the hour glass that held the Gryffindor rubies dropped fifty points from its previous total at the end of the last school year.

Hermione shook her head. "You are a malicious man, Severus."

 _A/N: Sorry if it's a little odd, but I needed a little comic relief myself after how heavy everything has been. I've always seen those two like this, when not reading wonderfully smutty HG/SS fics ... but to me, they are_ too _much alike to ever work, though gods knows it does work quite well. But I, in my weirdly impossible ways, see them as best friends or like father and daughter. I know, yhat's the beauty of my odd little personality.  
One day I may manage and HG/SS fic ... but not today ..._


	4. Gate

Chapter 3 - Gate

Severus and Hermione looked up when they heard a knock on the door.

"Can we come back in now?" Ron asked, his voice muffled through the thick oak.

Hermione looked up at Severus who nodded.

"Yes, please do."

The door opened, and Ron and Harry walked back into the Room.

"Everything okay?" Ron asked as he made his way to Hermione and dropped a kiss to her forehead.

"Never better," she replied.

"What about you, Snape?" Harry asked.

Severus actually thought about that question, though he wanted to reply an automatic "fine" just as he always would have done previously. He stared hard at Harry, for the first time taking in his appearance beyond the obvious similarities to James Potter. The arch of his eyebrow, the cleft in his chin, the way his jaw met his neck, even the shape of his eyes – it was all Lily, and also very much like his Lia.

Severus saw a flash of gray before him and jumped back slightly.

"Snape?" Harry repeated. "Are you okay?"

Severus just nodded, too afraid of the words that could come out of his mouth if he dared to open it.

"Shall we go to Selwyn Manor?" Hermione asked brightly.

The three men turned to look at her in unison, each with a different level of irritation on his face.

"Honestly," she said, throwing up her hands. " _I'll_ just go to my knitting then and wait for the big strong men to come home from the fighting. Would you like me to walk around barefoot, Ron, or am I still allowed to wear shoes?" she finished, glaring at each in turn as she walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Harry let out a breath. "I think she may actually be worse than Ginny was."

Ron slapped him, hard, on the back of his head, not once but twice. "That's my wife and my little sister you're talking about."

Severus groaned. "Will you two grow up?"

* * *

They Apparated in front of the main gate of the property a shortly thereafter.

The gates were ancient and had gone completely rusty from disuse and neglect. There were weeds everywhere it seemed, reminding Severus of pictures he had seen of the distant rain forests in South America. The leaves and weeds were overgrown and wildly green, as though life itself began at this very spot. In the distance, the old home was in obvious disrepair – windows were broken, shutters hung crookedly from the hinges, and ivy that grew over every conceivable surface of what could have been stone or brick underneath.

"It looks like a haunted home from an old black and white movie," Harry said, rubbing a finger over a patch of rust on the lock that sealed the gate shut.

Ron shook his head as he walked back and forth in front of the gate, as though he were trying to work something out. "It's almost too neglected. Look, there," he said, pointing to a spider's web that hung between two of the trees in front of them. It dripped in dew and was eerily beautiful in the dimming light.

"It's too perfect," Severus said.

"Exactly," said Ron.

There were a number of insects floating around them, as the pond on the property drew in a number of visitors of the winged variety and otherwise. The wind had picked up a little with the rainclouds that were rolling in on the hillside, and yet the spider's web was perfectly still and undisturbed.

Severus drew in a breath. "Finite Incantatum."

The scene dissolved in front of them, revealing a manor estate that would have been befitting one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. The lawns were perfectly mown and emerald green, the ivy was still present but now only enhanced the beauty of the vast home in front of them. Even the spider's web disappeared as the trees pulled their branches back to show that they'd recently been trimmed.

There was a screeching sound, and the front gates in front of them opened slowly, as though welcoming them to come in.

"What if it's a trap?" Harry asked, looking nervous.

"If we don't report to Hermione in ten minutes, she's calling the Auror office for us," Ron said as he walked past them and through the gates.

"Then we better find a fireplace," Severus said as he walked after him.

"And some Floo Powder," Harry called out as he trailed behind.

"In my pocket," Ron replied.

They came to the front door. Severus was just about to knock when it opened for them, as though they were expected.

"Creepy," Harry said. He took out his wand and walked in first.

Severus followed him in, his wand also in hand, where it had been since he cancelled the Concealing Charm that had been placed on the home. He looked around, hoping to see some sign of life within, but the home was dark and cold, even though it was virtually dust free and well maintained. To the left, he saw a sitting room with a small fireplace.

"Incendio," he said, lighting a cheery fire in the dark room.

He walked in and saw pictures of Lia and her mother covering every flat surface in the room. There were even some old pictures of Regulus that must have been taken before he died. He watched Lia take her first steps in one, and in another watched Regulus and Sarah hold her as a newborn, looking as proud as they could be over their infant girl.

Something caught his eye. He looked at the side wall and saw a small portrait that must have been painted of Sarah Selwyn shortly before her death.

Severus examined it closely, taking in the dark red hair and black eyes that had been so perfectly painted to match the woman he had once met.

He felt Ron walk in behind him, and heard the crackle of the fire as he threw on the Floo Powder.

"Hogwarts Castle, Gryffindor Tower, Professor Granger-Weasley's suite," Ron called out just before he stuck his head in the flames.

"This was her mother?" Harry said, who now stood next to Severus.

"You're not very bright, are you?" asked the painting to him.

"Oh, brilliant, it's one of those," Harry said, rubbing his nose in between his thumb and forefinger.

Severus just smirked and addressed the painting. "For your information, that's – "

"I know who it is, thank you," Sarah replied. "Welcome to Selwyn Manor, cousin."

"Thanks," Harry replied.

"Have you seen Narcissa Malfoy recently?" Severus asked.

"Are you the dark man that Sarah often spoke of?" the painting asked, narrowing her eyes.

He nodded. "I'm Severus Snape."

"Lia's husband," she said, a smile faint on her lips.

"The same."

"I haven't seen Narcissa since after the murder," she replied with a sigh. "She hung me on the wall after the memorial service. Sarah had been telling me about herself after I was painted and had kept me in her bedroom up until then."

"Has _anyone_ been by?" asked Ron, who must have kept the conversation between himself and Hermione short.

She shook her head again. "You are the first visitors here in fourteen years, I'm afraid. Jibby and I keep each other company, but other than that it's very lonely, especially since Sarah wanted us to keep the house Concealed. Jibby has gotten very shy, I don't think she'll come out." She eyed Severus thoughtfully. "Are you finally going to bring my daughter back?"

"She is back," Harry replied quickly, cutting into the conversation. "She's been back for a year."

"No, no," Sarah said, looking frustrated with him. She looked back to Severus. "She told me that you would bring her back to stay for a while, so that I would be able to get to know her too."

"The human Sarah told you this?" Severus said.

She nodded brightly, smiling just as Severus remembered, a smile that was exactly like his wife's.

"I can't wait to meet her; I've been waiting ever so long."

"What all did Sarah tell you?" Severus asked, taking a seat on the sofa in front of her. He hoped against hope that the Seer may have seen this far ahead, and left some guidance for them.

"She told me that you would eventually come here to stay for a while, though not forever," Sarah said, her eyes looking distant. "She even said that you would be here, today, if all the choices came as she thought they would."

"Anything else?" Severus asked hopefully.

"Yes, she did say something else, and she made me repeat it several times so that I would never forget it," the painting replied, her smile very enthusiastic.

"What is it?" asked Ron.

"She said, 'Tell them to follow the dragon, wherever it leads. The dragon will unwittingly take them to her'."

"That's all?" Severus said, trying not to feel too defeated with the knowledge that the Seer had not left them with more information.

"She knew you'd be disappointed, but she could not see this as clearly as she hoped," the painted Sarah said, looking as sad as Severus felt. "Sarah had a block about concerns with Lia, and she could not always see events where her daughter was hurt. But Sarah said don't lose hope: you and Lia will be happy in the end – no matter what happens in the middle of the story."

 _That's something_ _at least._

"And that's everything she told you to tell us? To follow the dragon because it would take us to Lia?" Ron asked, sounding as though he was trying not to be impatient.

"That's everything I'm afraid. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "You'll leave now, won't you? And Jibby will have to Conceal the house again."

"We apparently have a dragon to find," Severus said as he stood to his feet.

"I shan't get too sad," she said as she waved them off. "You'll be back, and I'll get to meet my daughter."

Ron and Harry passed him when he paused at the door, looking back at the portrait.

"She was sure of that?" he asked, voice breaking just slightly.

She nodded vigorously. "More certain of that than anything besides the dragon. It made her smile to know that you and Lia would have the happy ending that she and Regulus didn't have."

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Thank you, Sarah," he said, before he turned and walked out the door.

* * *

It was dark when they returned to the school, and though it was uninhabited by students Minerva was keeping it lit up against the darkness, as though it could be a beacon to guide the missing woman back home.

"Where am I sleeping?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to take one of the beds in the boy's dormitory?" Ron asked. "I think the password to the Prefect's bathroom is 'Lemony clean'."

"Sounds fine."

Severus and Ron watched as he walked over the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" she asked.

"It's not the school year and I'm not a student, let me in," Harry said, annoyed.

" _Password,"_ she stressed looking over at Ron for help.

"Serpens spiritus malus," Ron called out.

Harry repeated it to the portrait, which swung open for him to climb into.

When it swung shut, Severus glared at Ron.

"Really?" he asked, tapping his foot.

"I don't make them up," Ron said, walking quickly to the portrait guarded his and Hermione's rooms.

"But she and Neville to approve them you – "

The portrait swung open and shut so quickly that Severus didn't get a chance to finish. He sighed as he walked over to the painting of the Potioneer, who was busily working over several cauldrons.

"Do you want another assignment?" he asked, smirking as he decided to bring the Angel out of retirement after all.

* * *

Severus returned to his rooms, taking the long way that took him past Lia's.

The Farmer had not seen her, of course, but Severus never failed to ask whenever he walked by. He couldn't go in, not just now. Seeing emptiness where she should be was too difficult, as he was exhausted after the day, now only wanting to curl himself into the pillow on his bed that carried her scent and the faintest smudge of her lip gloss. He thought he might even be able to sleep tonight, though he knew that was probably just a hopeful dream.

He knew he would probably stay awake tonight, remembering all he could about her, now that he remembered everything.

Walking through the hidden door in his office and into his rooms, he removed his coat, casting it aside on a chair in his library. He kicked off his shoes and slid between the sheets of the unmade bed, burying his face again into her familiar scent.

He sighed, thinking of her laugh, which sounded the same both then and now. That soft, melodic laugh made him feel as though there were no bad things in the world.

It took him a while to realize that the laughter was no longer solely in his mind. It was in the room with him.

But when he looked up, the laughter was gone, just as suddenly as it had appeared.

He leaned into the pillow again and, out of sheer and utter exhaustion, fell asleep.

* * *

The dream was so real and perfect he never wanted to wake.

They were together, _finally;_ her silvery grey eyes lit with laughter as he kissed her neck while they lay in his own bed in his rooms.

She spoke to him softly in the French that Dumbledore must have forgotten to keep in her memory. Her expression was overjoyed as she stroked his face just as she did the first time they made love.

"Je t'aime, ma flame jumelle parfaite," she whispered into his ear, kissing his cheek softly.

"Mon amour parfait. Ne jamais partir," he replied urgently, kissing each of her fingers as they passed over his lips.

"Écoutez ma maman. Suivez le dragon."

She kissed his lips, the touch lighter than a butterflies wings.

He sat up suddenly, heart pounding in his chest.

He knew exactly where they needed to start.

 _Draco._


	5. Silence

Chapter 4 - Silence

"But isn't Draco insane?" asked Hermione skeptically.

It was early, the sun just barely lit the horizon as they stood in the courtyard in front of the Clock Tower. Severus had paced through the dungeons for so long after he'd woken from the dream that the Bloody Baron had gone to Gryffindor Tower to wake its only three inhabitants.

"He's not insane, Hermione," Ron said, looking up as the clock struck six times, the sound very sharp in the silence of the empty castle. "He just hasn't spoken in ten years."

"Since after his father received the Dementor's Kiss," Harry added, shuddering a little.

Severus looked past them, into the distance beyond Black Lake and the Quidditch Pitch. They had been his family - Lucius, Narcissa, and Draco - for as long as he'd been an adult in both of the worlds he came from. Lucius's sentence after the War had been a crushing blow to them all, but Draco had been hit the hardest by the loss of his father.

After the sentence was carried out, Lucius had passed beyond the veil, his body too weak from his imprisonment in Azkaban as well as from the stress of the war. To most, the reality of his quick death had been the only conciliation to the sentence. Draco seemed to be coping as well as could be expected and had even accepted a post in the Office of Magical Law Enforcement, as an undersecretary, but with potential for advancement. He'd avoided trial as he'd been underage when he took his Mark, but any influence of his family was long gone when the extent of their involvement with the Dark Lord had been discovered.

About six months after he took the post, while working on a group of files for the Auror office, the boy had simply stopped speaking. At first the Healers suspected Spell Damage, but they could find no evidence of one having been cast on him. No trace of a potion, nor poison. There was no explanation, other than a full psychological break. After every avenue had been exhausted, he was placed in the Closed Ward on the fourth floor for long term care, as he had the tendency to wander about, as though lost.

Severus went to visit him, once, about a month after his admission. The sight of his once strong, young Godson almost broke him. Draco's hair, once pale and shining, was now dull and limply clung to his face as though he'd been sweating. His eyes – his grey eyes that were so similar to Lia's in color – were as flat and lifeless as river stones. Draco never said a single word to him, nor even looked at him or acknowledged he was there.

Severus never returned.

And after Narcissa's self-imposed exile, he'd had no one, other than Hermione and the school. He'd buried himself in work, deciding to dedicate what was left of his sad existence to making sure this would never happen again. No more Dark Wizards would rise to power from the Slytherin House in his life time, if he had any say in the matter. No more wasted youth and wasted life due to the pursuit of meaningless power.

"Severus?" Hermione asked.

He looked up into her kind eyes, which were filled with worry. He shook his head, trying to tell her not to fret.

"Let's go," he said, looking at the two men beside him.

* * *

He was just the same as he had been ten years ago, only older now, Severus noted as the Healer pulled back the curtain. He sat on a chair next to the bed, staring at the wall as though he was studying a painting.

Nothing was on the wall, of course.

It was as blank as his eyes, which were flat and expressionless as they had been ten years ago. His hair was no longer lank; it was longer, stopping just at his chin, and shone much like his father's had so long ago. The only thing missing was the queue tied back with black ribbon.

"Draco?" Severus asked softly, reaching for the boy's hand. It was clammy, the texture much like clay. Severus resisted the temptation to wipe his own hand on his cloak when he pulled it away.

"He's been like this since we first received him, poor lad," said Healer Stout, who walked up to observe the scene.

"Not a word?" Severus asked.

"Not one," she confirmed. She walked around to touch Draco gently on the cheek. "His mum comes once a week for visits, every Thursday like clock-work, normally. She didn't come by yesterday though, nor the week before. She said she'd be busy for a while."

Severus frowned, watching the Healer fluff the hair around Draco's head.

"It's a shame," she said, continuing her thought. "It was so beautiful."

"What was?" asked Ron.

"His hair. It was almost down his back before her last visit. Madame Malfoy never let us cut it, as she said it reminded her so much of his father's. But she did it last time herself, and took it with her."

Severus looked at the Healer, then back to the men behind him. Ron stared back at him, hard, while Harry wiped a hand over his face.

"Thank you, Healer Stout," Ron said.

They were turning to leave when the Healer called out, "Will you come visit him more, now?"

Severus swallowed, too many thoughts going on in his mind for any new ones to even make sense.

"We will," Harry said, looking at Ron who confirmed this with a nod. Severus nodded as well, unsure of what else to do.

* * *

"'An eye for an eye', along with Draco's hair and Lia's, what the hell does that mean?" Ron asked angrily as they walked the short distance from St. Mungo's to the entrance to Diagon Alley.

"It's awfully weird," said Harry. "But nothing about this has even been remotely normal, really, even for us."

They walked into the Leaky Cauldron, Ron signaling Tom to bring a round of drinks to the table.

They sat, and Severus numbly put his face in his hands.

"Could she have been pregnant, Snape?" Harry asked.

Severus refused to look up. He was too busy mentally cursing himself over and over again as he replayed that wonderful night he'd had a week ago with Lia. The Spell had not been cast, but he tried to pinpoint the moment when he forgot, so that he could simply hex himself for being such a fucking idiot.

"I didn't even think about using a Charm, and I don't think she was on the potion. I didn't even ask," he said, his voice barely audible.

"She wasn't," Ron confirmed. "I checked Poppy's records to see if she'd been ill recently or needed any medications. All she takes is the Vitamix potion once a month."

 _Once a month?_

Severus looked up sharply at Ron. "Once a month? That's supposed to be taken once a year."

"I read the records myself, Snape," Ron said. "Once a month, always on the first."

"We need to talk to Poppy, then," Harry said. He took out a spare piece of parchment from his pocket along with a Self-Inking Quill and started making some notes.

"How could we have been so careless, again?" Severus said.

"It's easy to get caught up in the moment when you're in love," Harry said, looking up from his work. "We just found out Ginny's pregnant again, for more or less the same reason," he added sheepishly.

Severus looked up sneered sardonically. "Congratulations, Potter."

Ron looked at Harry and frowned. "I'm happy for you and all, but maybe not the best time, mate," he said, taking a drink from the pint that had just been placed in front of him.

Severus stared at the drink that Tom left for him, thinking absently that he hated lager, but took a drink anyways.

How could he have been so careless? After all the carefully done encounters of his youth, he'd not once, but potentially twice gotten Lia pregnant by a simple, forgotten spell.

"Is this all about Narcissa wanting another child?" Harry asked.

"Must be," Ron said. "She lost her whole family in the war, except for Andromeda, and Andromeda won't have anything to do with her."

"And Lia is really the last bit of family she has," said Harry, nodding. "At least, the only one that she cares about."

Ron shook his head, "She could have been lying about that. She did about so much else, apparently."

Harry looked into his drink. "I don't think so, I really don't. She couldn't have anymore children after Draco and always wanted a little girl, according to her at least." He smirked. "Those family traits are strong - Lia favors the Black sisters very strongly, without the glamors."

Severus nodded, taking a deep breath as he did so. "An eye for an eye," he said softly. "She takes the family from the betraying bastard that she thinks ruined hers. Just her luck the family is belongs to her, too."

"Does she blame you for Draco's illness?" asked Harry.

"I would think so," he sighed. "She blames me for Lucius most assuredly. I attempted to testify at his trial, but it was no use – no one would listen. They were too focused on punishing anyone who bore a Mark, other than me and the under-aged. She couldn't stand the fact that I was exonerated for my crimes and lauded a hero."

"It was because you _were_ one," Harry said, unable to meet Severus's eyes.

Severus leaned back in his seat. "If you say so, Harry."

Harry looked at him quizzically. "That's the third time you're called me by my first name in my entire life, and it's happened with the last two days. You've always called me Potter. What's changed?"

Severus hadn't been completely aware that he'd done it, but he was now. He looked away for a minute, out the window and into the streets of Diagon Alley, while he tried to formulate the right words.

What _had_ changed?

He remembered he way he felt fourteen years ago when Lia first came into his life, how his feelings about the boy softened when he finally found his mate and let go of his misdirected feelings towards Lily. It had happened again, all over again now that she was back. Potter was no longer the Boy-Who-Should-Have-Been-His. He was just Harry, the boy – and now the man – who he'd spent seventeen years trying to protect. And like it or not, even though he was not like a son, as he did not care for either him nor Ron like he did for Hermione, the three were more or less his family.

The thought made him shudder, as it always had when that thought vaguely crossed his mind in years past or whenever Hermione brought it up. Except this time it wasn't a violent shudder as before. For him, it was as close to acceptance to the situation as he would get.

"Her," Severus said. "It's because of Lia. She's my heart," he said, almost grimacing at the sentiment though he knew it to be true. "I only had her for such a short time then and now. Now that it's been returned to me, I ..." he shook his head, refusing to finish that thought out loud.

 _Now that it's been returned to me, I can actually give a damn about any of you._

He glared at Harry and Ron both for a minute, then purposefully softened his gaze. "You both may call me Severus, and I will use your first names as well," he said, averting his eyes and taking another long drink from his glass.

Ron leaned over and touched the ground, as though he were looking for something.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Just checking to see if Hell froze over is all," Ron said, ducking when Severus threw a balled up napkin at him.

"Prat," Severus muttered.

"Will you actually accept now that Hermione loves you like she does her own parents?" Ron asked, this time serious.

Severus nodded, this time without the physical reaction. "I feel the same about her. If Vanessa had been born, I think we could be rest assured that she would have been almost exactly like Hermione. And I feel –" he paused, again trying to find the right words and also so that he could Occluding slightly to hold back some of the overwhelming emotion he felt, " _fortunate_ that she is in my life."

"Bindings can do that to a person," Ron said, winking at Severus as he took the last drink from his pint.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the man.

 _Son of a bitch._

"Guys, look," Harry said, pointing out the window that faced Diagon Alley.

They turned to look at the store Harry was motioning to.

"It's a new Potions store," Ron said, shrugging. "So what?"

"Look again, you idiot," Severus said, standing up and walking towards it to get a better look.

The sign above the shop swung cheerily in the wind.

 _Drago Pozioni Cuore._

A small dragon emblem, wrapped around a heart, was painted just beneath.


	6. Potions

Chapter 5 - Potions

Hermione was trying, with great difficulty, not to take an after lunch nap.

However, as she was perusing the latest edition of "Transfiguration Today", her eyes lids kept getting heavier and heavier until she knew it was no use. She was aware on some level that she might need some extra sleep every now and then as her pregnancy progressed, she just hadn't expected for the need to be so completely overwhelming.

She had planted herself in Lia's rooms after the three men had left, finding comfort in the familiar smells and objects within. The odor of smoke was gone, thanks to the thorough cleaning Minny had given it, as well as multiple charms cast by the house elf and herself. She'd found several tins of cookies that Lia must have put stasis charms on, as they were still completely fresh as though just baked, and had snacked on them most of the morning while she caught up on some of reading. Hermione finally finished Lia's books on Muggle Midwifery as well as several texts on pharmacology and patient education. Finding the copy of "Transfiguration Today" had been a boon, especially since it was one she had not read yet.

Deciding that she would just sleep in Lia's bed rather than wasting the energy to return to Gryffindor Tower, she walked into the dark bedroom and made it brighter with a quick flick of her wand to open the curtains. She pulled back the soft bed covers and slipped in between the sheets, sighing a little when her head hit the pillow. Her nose crinkled a little when she caught a hint of Severus's familiar scent, but she tried not to dwell too much on what they might have done where she was now resting.

After catching a glimpse of the picture sitting next to the bed of Severus and Lia dancing, she said a quick prayer for Lia's safety and fell asleep.

* * *

"Hermione," said a soft voice – a familiar voice even though it didn't sound just the way she remembered.

"Whaaaat?" she yawned, opening her eyes before she lifted her head from the pillow.

Nothing was there.

Puzzled, but still tired nonetheless, Hermione closed her eyes and once more tried to chase sleep.

"Hermione," said the voice again, more urgent this time.

She opened one eye this time, squinting around the room as she grabbed her wand from underneath the pillow.

"Expell-"

"Stop, please. It's only me," said the familiar voice again. It almost sounded like ...

Frowning, Hermione carefully rolled over and saw Lia sitting on the bed next to her.

It was the Lia from the old photographs, blonde and pale, though older now, with laugh lines and a knowing smile.

"Have you been found?" Hermione said, close to tears as she took the hand that was sitting next to her own.

Lia shook her head. "No, my sister. They haven't found me yet."

Hermione finally realized why she didn't sound like herself. Instead of her softly drawled, Southern American voice, her true accent had returned.

"Then how are you here?" she asked, squeezing the hand that felt so real in her own.

Lia shook her head. "I don't know. And I don't know where I am."

"Are you …" Hermione started to ask her if she was dead, but the words choked her like bitter ashes, and she felt her eyes water with tears.

"No," Lia said.

She laid down next to Hermione, facing her and keeping her hands within her own.

"I'm not dead. I don't know what this is, but I very much know I am not dead," she said, smiling faintly. "I think I was given the choice, but I chose to stay here again. With Severus, and with you my dear girl."

"Am I awake?" asked Hermione. She let her tears fall on the pillow, unwilling to let the soft hands go.

"Mostly," Lia said, now crying as well. "You and Severus can see me when you are in the half state between waking and dreaming. Severus just thinks he's dreaming, but I'm glad you know better. I knew you would."

"I miss you," Hermione said, letting go of her hands to hug Lia closely to her. She felt Lia's warm, comforting arms wrap around her.

"I miss you, sweet," Lia whispered into Hermione's ear.

"Will you stay with me until I awake?"

Lia nodded against her shoulder. She began to hum a tune Hermione didn't recognize, but it consoled her just as one of her mother's songs would have done.

"Tell that arsehole I miss him, too," Lia said softly.

* * *

Hermione's eyes snapped open in full wakefulness.

She rubbed her cheek against her pillow, which was still wet with her tears. Her hand slid to the pillow next to hers and felt the dampness of tears there as well. The bed had a slight indentation from a body that had just been there.

But, as she waved a hand through the air next to her, she felt nothing.

She sat up in the bed and tried to make sense out of it, but found she could not. Hermione could appreciate what she found in books and through her life experience – she always had and always would – but this was something she had never read about nor experienced.

Grabbing a handkerchief from the side table and rolling her eyes when she saw that it was another one of Severus's, she dried her eyes and blew her nose, then climbed out of the bed. She walked over to Lia's dressing table to straighten her appearance in the mirror. Frowning down at the marble top, she saw that there was a stack of parchment there that the Aurors had gone through. Knowing that a fresh set of eyes sometimes helped, she took it to the sitting room and sat down on the nice, squishy couch Lia had brought from her home in America.

Nothing much looking important or pertinent, not really. Mostly the parchments contained Lia's notes about medicinal potions and creams.

The last parchment was what drew her attention, and she slapped her forehead with disgust, wondering why she hadn't thought about it sooner.

Except, that only now would it have made sense, since they were following a dragon and she had just seen Lia's ... whatever it was that she saw when she was still half asleep.

She folded the letter from Luna to Lia and put it in her pocket, rubbing her finger over the wax seal that had remained intact thanks to Lia's persnickety habits about handling mail.

The seal had been stamped with the Longbottom family crest – the center of which was the head of a dragon.

* * *

"Dragon Heart Potions," Harry said, as they stood in front of the business.

"Established last year," added Ron, reading the sign out front.

Severus shook his head and muttered something profane to himself as he walked past the men and opened the door.

A bell rang cheerily as he entered the shop. He looked around, thinking that this would be the kind of shop he would want to operate one day if he ever got the chance. It was very clean – not a speck of dust on any of the mahogany surfaces or on any of the hundreds of crystal vials that held untold numbers of potions for sell. The air smelled like gillyweed and asphodel, making him wonder where the bubbling cauldrons were hidden and just what was being brewed.

Severus heard the bell ring two more times, indicating Harry and Ron had finally decided to come in instead of gawking in front of the store like a couple of school children.

"If you two break anything I swear I'll –"

"Yes, Dad," Ron said, ducking away from Severus's hand.

"Hermione can get away with that," Severus said tightly. "You cannot. Don't push it."

"Yes, Severus," Ron said, hiding a grin as he turned to look at the case of potions to his left.

"Benvenuto, brava gente," cried a male voice.

Severus turned to see a door swing shut in the back of the shop. A small man was bright blue eyes was coming towards them. He was dressed in a customary Potions Master uniform of thick, dragon-hide boots much like his own, a long sleeved coat – the sleeves covering his hand almost to the first knuckle, and a woolen cap that Severus had given up on wearing years ago.

"We don't speak Italian, sir," Harry said as he picked up a vial of Contraceptive Potion.

"A little late for that, isn't it?" whispered Ron.

"You are in luck that I speak English then," replied the heavily accented voice. "I'm Marco Augello. How can I help you gentlemen today?"

The three men looked at each other. Severus wasn't sure where to start – they'd come to the store on the faith that anything to do with the dragon would lead them to Lia – but they weren't exactly sure how it would.

"Have you sold anything … unusual lately," asked Ron. He brought out his identification, showing the man that he was an Auror, and Harry took his lead and did the same.

Augello frowned and backed away. "I run a good business here. Ask any of my neighbors."

"We know that, sir," said Harry, holding up his hands. "We're looking for a missing woman and any information could be helpful."

"Okay," said Augello. He sat down on a chair behind the cash register and took off his cap, showing a balding head underneath. "Anything unusual … I don't know, maybe. But it wasn't lately, it was last year after I opened the shop."

"What was it?" Severus asked.

"A lady, a beautiful lady, bought out my stock of fertility potions. Twelve is what she wanted. Nobody ever does that, they are best fresh. I put a stasis charm on them to make sure they would stay that way, but I told her I didn't know if it would work. I had to spend a month making more and put several customers on back order," Augello said, sounding irritated at the memory of the event.

"Did she tell you her name?" Ron asked.

Augello shook his head.

"What did the lady look like?" asked Harry, his parchment and quill back in hand.

"Oh, so beautiful," said Augello, smiling a little now. "Long, thick blonde hair. Icy blue eyes – that's what I remember most about her. You don't forget those eyes."

Severus nodded and sighed, remembering how lovely and manipulative the owner of those blue eyes could be.

"How often is the dosing on your fertility formula, I understand it's different depending on the amount of Ashwinder Eggs used," he said, knowing the answer but not wanting to give away who he was to the man.

"Monthly, is what I dose, Signore, it's safer that way," Augello said. "Every two weeks is too strong, every six weeks is too weak. Four weeks is perfect – ten drams of Ashwinder Eggs per batch." He smiled, looking very proud of his knowledge and of the formula.

Severus could only grimace.

"Anything else?" Harry asked.

"Well," Augello said, wiping his forehead with the cap. "She came back about a week ago."

"What did she buy this time?" asked Ron.

"Vitamins Potions, Signore, the kind I sell to women who are expecting," Augello answered, grinning faintly. "Along with essence of monkswood and asphodel – both help with nausea and sleep. I guess my potion works as well as I advertise, huh?" he added, grinning up as Severus.

Bringing a hand to his mouth, Severus had to fight back the urge to throw up in the middle of the store.

"Thank you, sir, we'll be leaving now," said Harry, ushering the other men out of the store.

"Come by anytime," called the Signore as they walked out the door.

Severus ran to the alley between the stores and promptly lost what little food he'd eaten that day in one of the rubbish bins.

 _A/N: I've got no clue what Neville's crest actually has on it, and there's nothing anywhere that points to it, so I chose the obvious, since the obvious is cool, lol. Much cooler than my family's. Ours has a cat and a boat on it. For reals._


	7. Field

Chapter 6 - Field

"Good afternoon, Minerva," said Hermione brightly. She walked into the Headmistress's office, trying very hard not to look like she was about to pull one over on every one.

"And to you too, Hermione," Minerva said suspiciously. She stood up from her chair and circled around the desk as Hermione walked in a beeline to the same location. "And how may I help you today?"

"Well," Hermione started, looking to the side slightly before she continued. "I was just chatting with Luna, and I thought I would go for a visit. May I use your Floo?"

Minerva studied her for a long minute, making Hermione very uncomfortable. She started to squirm a little, but when Minerva caught her doing do she tried to play in off as adjusting her position, making a great show of rubbing her stomach in the process.

"Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley, I've known you for almost twenty years now. Don't you think I know when you are fibbing at this point?" Minerva asked, laughing so hard her hat almost fell straight off her head.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, Minerva," Hermione said, waiting for the older witch to calm down. She began to stamp her foot impatiently until Minerva's laughter finally ceased.

"Are you really just going to Luna's for a visit?" Minerva asked, winking at her.

"Honestly," Hermione said, fingers crossed behind her back.

"She has her fingers crossed, I can see it from here," said Phineas.

Hermione looked back at the painting and glowered at it with such spite that it would have made Severus very proud indeed.

"Snitch," she said, narrowing her eyes further.

"Hermione," Minerva said as she walked to the fireplace. "I think it's ridiculous that Ron and Severus demanded you stay here. Go visit Luna, but be careful, please, if you do anything else."

Minerva threw the powder into the fire herself and said, "Luna and Neville Longbottom, 22 Knighthead Row, Hogsmeade."

"Thanks Minerva," Hermione said, kissing her cheek just before she walked into the fire and disappeared.

* * *

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Neville asked as he helped her to a chair.

"I'm fine," she said, holding her stomach a little as she fought the queasiness that had come very suddenly the second she came out of the fireplace. "I think it's all the spins in the Floo. I'll be fine in a minute."

"A cup of tea?" he asked.

She nodded, "Sounds perfect."

"Luna!" he called as he walked into the kitchen.

Hermione smiled as she watched Luna enter the room. No matter how many years passed, Luna never lost her childlike innocence, nor the dreaminess that had drawn Neville to her in the first place. She walked into the room as though she were floating on air, gliding as though her feet didn't know how to touch the ground. Her smiled was still small, only half a smile really, but it was the kind of smile that put people immediately at ease. It made her a favored teacher at Hogwarts, even though many of her students didn't at first understand the subject they were taking from her.

Initially thought to be too much like Divination, Minerva was hesitant about even offering the course and taking Luna on as a Professor. But Luna won out, especially since Beauxbatons and Salem had adopted Naturalism as a course offering as well. It ended up being the perfect addition to the school, combining Muggle teachings with Herbology, Divination, and Astronomy, making each subject more assessable and practical to the students.

It became a compulsory subject after her first year of teaching.

"Hello, Hermione," Luna said softly, sitting down on the sofa next to her. "Neville getting you some tea? That's good."

"Hello, Luna," she said. "It's good to see you."

Luna nodded in response and looked over Hermione's shoulder, nodding again as though someone else was in the room with them.

Hermione looked behind her but saw nothing.

"What," she asked Luna, craning her whole body around this time to see if she was missing something.

"Oh, it's just Lia," said Luna. "She standing behind you and crying."

Hermione whipped her head around again, but still saw nothing.

"How can you see her?" she asked, turning around to face Luna again. "I can only see her when I'm half asleep, apparently."

Luna shook her head and looked down, the plums in her ears moving gracefully as she did so. Neville came in with tea then and handed a cup to Luna and Hermione both. He kissed the top of his wife's head and walked back out after winking in Hermione's direction.

"I told him we needed to talk, so he's leaving us alone, though he's dying to catch up with you," Luna said, taking a sip of her tea.

"I'd like to catch up too, later," Hermione said, staring down into her tea. "Out with it, witch. How can you see her and nobody else can?"

Luna shrugged. "Probably because I know how to do what she's doing, so I'm always in both worlds more or less." She leaned in closer to Hermione. "It's how I found out that the Nargles are really extinct," she whispered conspiratorially.

"What is it exactly that she's doing?" Hermione asked, looking back behind her and running her hand through the air there again.

Luna laughed. "She just moves back when you do that. It's not very nice to interpolate yourself into someone else's Astral Field."

"I'll remember that. So, what's an Astral Field?" Hermione asked, pulling her hand back and turning around again.

"She's making use of Astral Projection, and her field is her body and the area around it that picks up her energy."

"Luna," Hermione said, trying not to get impatient. "Pretend I'm a student. Start at the beginning."

"Oh, right," Luna said, laughing again. "I forget you didn't study this is in school." She looked at Hermione closely for a minute before she started speaking again. "Lia's able to project herself outside of her physical body right now, but she's never been taught how to do it. Were you?" Luna asked the space next to Hermione. "I didn't think so. You're not doing it completely right, and I'd venture to say you were probably in a trance when you were pulled out? It's okay if you don't know, I think I can tell. Normally you can see or hear the person who is projecting, and they can manipulate their environment to some degree. She can, a little, but only if the person is in their own trance-like state. I'd venture to say that it's because her body is weakened somehow."

Hermione sighed and closed her eyes.

 _If I could stretch my mind to realize I'm a witch, I can believe this._

"Can she get back to her body?" Hermione asked, after she'd opened her eyes again, giving Luna her complete focus.

"Most assurdly," Luna said, nodding absently. "She's connected to her body like you are to Rose. She just hasn't noticed it yet. You just saw it didn't you?" Luna said, smiling a little wider as she shook her head.

"And you do this, Luna?" Hermione said, incredulous.

"Loads of times," Luna said. "It's pretty amazing. You feel so light, and you can explore anything you wish, anywhere you wish. But she's staying close to you and Severus right now. I bet she followed you from the castle because she hates Apparating so much – she'd have to hold on to someone if she didn't know where she was going. Thought so," she said, shaking her head and looking at Hermione again.

Luna cocked her head to the side, as though thinking. "So it wasn't your idea? Someone helped you. That's not as odd as it sounds, though." She looked at Hermione again. "I can't hear her, but I can read lips pretty well – it's helpful with students on the far edge of the class."

"I'll have to remember that," Hermione murmured.

"She said she didn't do it on purpose. Someone with great … green eyes? … glasses … and bushy hair helped her move outside of herself. She knows she's seen the person before but can't remember who she is."

Hermione frowned and looked back to the empty space Luna was speaking to. Great green eyes and bushy hair, that sounded like –

She looked back to the sofa but saw that Luna wasn't there.

"Luna, where did you go?"

"Here," said a soft voice. Luna was at the top of the stairs, walking down again. She glided back into the room, in a different outfit this time and her hair pulled back in a different style.

Hermione shook her head, then shook it again. Maybe she was going completely bonkers. She pinched herself lightly. It hurt – she must have be awake. Then it hit her.

"You were projecting before, weren't you?"

"Caught me," Luna said, giggling and looked back at where Lia must be standing.

"Luna, I think I need to talk to Sybil. The woman who helped her sounds like her."

"I thought so too," Luna said with a sigh.

"I hate talking to that old fraud; how she could have helped Lia is beyond me," Hermione said, finishing her tea.

"Oh, she's not a fraud, Hermione. You've really got a lot to learn," Luna said, winking at her and at the space next to her.

* * *

"Gods," Severus said, spitting into the bin again when he was sure he couldn't heave anymore.

Fertility potions, since the day Lia arrived at Hogwarts. Made with Ashwinder Eggs, none the less. Even if he'd used every precaution imaginable there was no way anything would have stopped the inevitable from happening. There was no way Lia could not be pregnant.

"Gods," he said again, tears coming to his eyes.

A family.

 _His_ family.

Gone again.

"Severus," Harry said. He squatted down next to him. "Maybe it's not –"

"Don't be stupid Harry," he harshly, standing up now and leaning against the brick wall of the alley way. "Of course it's true. Narcissa has what she wants, and I'm left with …"

 _The nothingness I had before._

"We _will_ find her, Severus," Ron said, the green color leaving his face now from having seen him get sick.

"Don't you see?" Severus asked. "It may not be about finding her. Cissy set a perfect trap. She brought my wife home, didn't tell anyone who she really was so that she'd make sure she was under no specific protection. Now she'll have an heir to the Black family as well as the Gaunt's. Lia didn't want children – she was too afraid of passing on the title of the 'Heir of Slytherin' to another generation. And she's been trapped into it – we both have," he said, thinking back to the night they'd spoken of such matters, the night she's proposed to him and they'd been bound.

 _"_ _You have to understand, Severus, the line must end with me. It has to be over," she said, wiping her eyes as she toyed with the rest of her dinner._

 _"_ _I do understand, my love. It will end with you, as my own Godforsaken line will end with me," he replied. He stood up and took her hand in his, sliding her out of her chair. He held her, whispering soft words into her ear as she relaxed against him._

 _"_ _I don't want you to take a contraceptive potion, not with you leaving so soon. Who knows how it might interact with Muggle 'medicine'," he said, jeering as the thought of the Muggles' ideas of Healing. "We'll have to use the Charm, every time we are ... together," he said, enjoying the flush that crept across her face._

 _"_ _That won't be so hard to remember," she said, lifting a hand to his face. She kissed him, and he swore he heard bells in his ears._

 _"_ _Let's go talk to Albus," he said, grinning down at her as he led her out of the Room._

Stupid, stupid, stupid. He could have made a two week potion, if he'd been thinking clearly at all that night. All he could think about then was how happy he was, even for a moment, and how much he loved and wanted that perfect little woman.

"Did Narcissa ever tell you how she knew about where Lia was?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry looked at Ron and then at Severus, shaking his head. "I wish knew."

"We may never know," Severus said.

Ron cocked his head to the side for a minute, apparently deep in thought.

"Wait a tick," he said. "Remember when Kreacher was spreading information to Narcissa and Bellatrix?"

"How could I forget?" asked Harry sadly. He cocked his head to the side as well and said, "You don't think that Kreacher – "

"That's impossible. How would Kreacher have known about Lia?" Severus said, perplexed.

" _He_ might not have had direct knowledge, but house elves talk – they know everything going on in the castle whether we realize it or not. What if he found out when he started working in the kitchens and told Narcissa, not realizing it was a secret? You never ordered him not to visit her again, did you?"

Harry shook his head, then groaned heavily. " _Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_. It's written on the tea towels that every Hogwarts house elf wears, Kreacher included. Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

 _A/N: Before anyone gets up in arms about my little explanation of Astral Projection, I did do a fair amount of research ... and what I didn't like I made up. Literary license, right? Right?_ _I also haven't said this isn't mine in a while. It isn't. And of course, since it's posted here, no money._


	8. Name

Chapter 7 - Name

"I think I learned enough from her my 3rd year, thank you," Hermione said, a little taken aback at Luna's words.

That horrible woman was the only Professor at the school Hermione had no respect for, still didn't for that matter. She'd learned absolutely nothing in the only year of Divination that she took, other than how to keep her mouth shut and how to stay awake in a completely insipid class.

"Oh, that's a shame, Hermione, and not really fair either. You have always been so fair minded about other things," Luna said, looking again at the space next to her and sighing. "She really isn't a fraud you know. Think back to all the predictions she cast while we were at school. They all came true in one way or another, didn't they? Think about it."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue with her, then shut it again. She thought back to all the things Sybill said over the years, that she'd experienced or otherwise heard about from Ron or Harry. They may have seemed ridiculous at the time, but most of them did indeed eventually come true, in the end. Harry had been doomed after all, and so had the rest of them, really, in helping him. And she didn't tell _everyone_ that they were doomed – it seemed that way much of the time as she always told _someone_ that they were, but that person always had a twist of fate, whether it be major or minor …

The matter of thirteen at the table had been terribly, horribly true, after all …

And of course, there were the two prophecies that she'd made that had been recorded, but only because someone was there to hear them. Merlin knows how many others could have been made with no one around to witness it ...

Hermione straightened up in her chair a little, now thinking about the woman in a new light.

"Why didn't you say something when she told Lia she was doomed at the first staff meeting?"

Luna just shrugged. "It could have just been a stubbed toe or something like that. No reason to get up in arms about anything. Sybill never understands it completely anyways, that's what makes her act so harebrained. When you see all the possible outcomes for every choice someone makes it would keep you a little frazzled, wouldn't it? It's why your mother didn't like to be around groups of people, I'd bet."

"Her mother?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Oh, Lia's mum was a Seer, too. Just not an active one," Luna said.

Hermione looked away, back to the spot where her friend apparently stood. This whole thing just kept getting more oddly curious by the minute. Why couldn't any of this been stopped if so many people around her could have been able to see into the future?

The fickleness of Divination always irritated her. It was too subjective, too dependent on too many different outcomes. She liked things that were more concrete, more obtainable by recognizable forces. It was why she'd quit the class in the first place – well, that and the fact that she'd thought Sybill to be a total idiot at the time.

"I guess it's time to find the woman and see what she knows," Hermione said, stretching as she rose from her chair.

"I would think so, but we won't have to go too far," Luna said. "She's our next door neighbor, you know. Likes to stay close to the school, even when it's out of session."

"I'll be off then. Thank you, Luna," Hermione said, moving to give her a hug.

Luna just held up her hands and started to giggle. "Oh, I'm going with you Hermione. I told Neville not to wait up for me when you called earlier. It could be a long night," she said, raising her eyebrows and nodding her head conspiratorially.

"Well, I would appreciate the company, and the help," Hermione said, gratefully.

"Let's be off then. Come on Lia," Luna said, moving to grab the air next to Hermione's left hand before she shook her head. "I forgot," she said with a laugh. She grabbed Hermione's hand instead. "We're off Neville! See you after dinner –if we're lucky."

* * *

The trio Apparated back to Grimmauld Place, deciding it would be faster than going back to Hogwarts immediately.

The previously Noble House of Black was no longer under a Fidelis Charm, which made the already confused neighbors even more so now that Number Twelve shone cheerfully in the sun, bright gold characters announcing the location. But, as per the norm, no one asked too many questions, especially to each other, as no one in the neighborhood wanted to admit they'd either thought the residence didn't exist or had suddenly appeared from nowhere. Besides, they liked the Potter's too much to bother with too much wonder, even if they and their friends had the habit of suddenly appearing, seemingly out of thin air.

Severus, Harry, and Ron walked into the home, and were immediately greeted by George Weasley.

Severus groaned inwardly. He had always felt terrible for cursing the young man, despite the fact that it probably saved his life. Just the sight his otherwise handsome face, missing one ear and scarred from the event, made him ill at ease, even though he and the redhead had made peace about it years ago.

"Well, Harry, finally decided you're married to my sister after all, did you? It's good to know you remember where you live, since you've knocked her up again and all," George said, grinning like a mad hatter.

Ginny was standing next to him and immediately turned a shade of red quite similar to the color of her hair.

"George, will you shut up!" she shouted, slapping him in the back of the head.

"You are a horrible sister, did you know that?" he replied, rubbing the back of his head, though the smile never left his face.

Ginny rolled her eyes and walked over to Harry, pulling him into an embrace and snogging him in front of everyone.

Severus turned away, not embarrassed, as he or Lia would and had done the same in the past when he'd been away for too long. But the sight of the woman who favored Lily kissing the man who resembled James was discomfiting, even if the feelings were no longer there. It just felt odd to watch.

"I missed you," Ginny murmured.

"Me too," Harry replied.

"Get a room," Ron said, walking past them to give his brother a quick hug. "And summon that elf of yours."

"Right," Harry said. He looked at George. "It's kind of Auror business, do you mind stepping –"

"I was just leaving," George said, cuffing him on the shoulder. He looked at Severus and mocked his sneer to perfection. "I heard from a reliable source that _you_ got _my_ old girlfriend."

Severus looked between Ron, Harry, and Ginny, glaring at them with differing levels of intensity. They all attempted to look completely innocent, though one failed miserably.

"Ginny!" Harry said, surprised at her indiscretion.

"What?" she said, trying to hold in a smile.

"Can you keep that piece of information to yourself, Mr. Weasley?" Severus said shortly.

For a minute George looked as though he were going to make a joke or at least argue, but he must have thought the better of it, because he simply nodded.

"I hope you find her, Snape. I really do. They broke the mold on Lia," George said a little wistfully. Nodding at the group, he left the home, looking around to make sure the street was empty before he Apparated with a soft pop.

"Ginny, I hate to ask you this, but – "

"It's fine, Harry," she said, sighing. "I'll take James for a quick walk." She left the room quietly.

"I hate doing that to her, but she's been so good about handling some of the privacy of my job –"

The heard the back door slam so hard that even the pictures on the wall next where they stood shook.

"What were you going to say, Harry?" Ron asked. His face was also the color of his hair, though it was because he was doing a terrible job of holding in his laughter.

"Nothing, you arsehole," Harry said, rolling his eyes. He snapped his fingers. "KREACHER!"

The elderly house elf appeared in front of them with a loud crack. He looked at the group before he said, "How can I assist my two Masters, Harry and Snape?"

"Kreacher," said Severus. He kneeled down beside the little elf. "Would you answer some questions for us?"

"Yes, Master Snape," he said, his voice especially low and hoarse today.

"Are you okay, Kreacher?" asked Harry, kneeling down now as well.

Kreacher rubbed his face with the Hogwarts tea towel, wiping away the tears that were beginning to form. "Kreacher thinks he may have made a mistake," he said miserably, moving quickly to the kitchen door, trying to close it on his hands.

"Stop!" cried Ron, heaving the door open before he could finish the task.

"What have you done, Kreacher?" asked Severus.

"Kreacher did not protect the Black heir. Kreacher did not protect the only child of the great hero, Master Regulus," he said, falling to the floor and sobbing.

The three men looked at each other, unsure what to do.

"What did you not do to protect her, Kreacher?" asked Harry, moving to pat him on the back.

"Kreacher should have known what she would do," he said.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Jibby!" Kreacher was wailing now, trying to bang his head on the floor.

"Kreacher, I command you to stop trying to hurt yourself, and stand up, please," Harry said crossly.

The elf nodded, slightly, sniffling and hiccupping as he stood back up.

"What does the Selwyn's house elf have to do with Lia's disappearance?" Harry asked, much softer and kinder than he did before.

Kreacher sniffed, blowing his nose loudly on his tea towel before he replied, "Kreacher thinks Jibby has talked about things with Missus Narcissa, things Jibby shouldn't have taken outside of Hogwarts."

"Like what?" Ron asked. "Start at the beginning, Kreacher."

"Tell us what you know," Severus said.

Kreacher looked at his hands as he began.

"No one knows all the secrets the elves carry for their Masters, Masters and Sir," he said, looking at Ron. "Elves are always around, helping out their Masters, and they forget about us even being there. We know things, but it's our code not to talk about them with people who don't need to be knowing them. Kreacher made that mistake once, and Kreacher won't let it happen again," he said, looking meaningfully at Harry.

Harry smiled a little smile that could have been a grimace, and nodded for him to continue.

"The elves knew about what happened to Mistress Lia when she was at Hogwarts. They stuck to their code, never spoke about it to any Wizards or to themselves. Except for Winky. She tells all the new elves the stories of the castle, when she's had too much Butterbeer," he said with disgust. "It's how Kreacher found out about it, but Kreacher knew the Black heir needed to be protected, so Kreacher didn't say a word, even to her cousins. When Jibby came to Hogwarts to work after the War, Jibby listened to all the secrets Winky had to tell her. And when Jibby heard the biggest one about her lady, Kreacher thinks she told Missus Narcissa all she knew so that her lady could come home, and Jibby could take care of her again."

Severus sat back on his heels and let out a breath. This was not the story he expected at all, though now the house elf's lack of appearance at Selwyn Manor made sense. She wasn't shy – she was just in two positions, much like Kreacher was himself.

"Kreacher," Severus said slowly, "Why have we never seen Jibby at Hogwarts?"

"You have seen her, Master Snape. Jibby calls herself Minny when she's at the school. It's the name Jibby would have named herself, if she could have done it again. Kreacher still likes Kreacher, even if 'Minny' doesn't like Jibby."

"Minny is Jibby?" Severus asked, stunned.

"Yessir," Kreacher said, smiling a little. "Jibby is also Kreacher's sister. We both worked in the Noble House of Black, until Mistress Sarah left. Madame gave Jibby clothes for helping Mistress Sarah pack, so Mistress Sarah gave her a job at Selwyn Manir so there would be no disgrace."

"Merlin's beard," said Severus, shaking his head to clear it, then shaking it again for good measure.

"Dragon," muttered Harry, making Severus look up at him. Harry took a deep breath and asked, "Kreacher, what does Jibby stand for? Is it a nickname?"

"Yes, Master Harry. Kreacher and Jibby named themselves after a story Master Orion's mother used to read to him and Mistress Lucretia at bedtime. They liked the story with the creature, so that's what Kreacher named himself, and Jibby named herself after the bigger name for the creature. The Jibberhooky," he said, smiling a little.

"The Jabberwocky," Harry corrected.

"The Dragon," Severus finished, closing his eyes.

 _A/N: Going further down the rabbit hole to get through the fairy tale. I gave you little warnings along the way, really I did. It'll get a little curiouser still before the 'happily ever after' ... which I have also promised, never fear ..._


	9. Smoke

Chapter 8 – Smoke

"Sybill?" Luna called, knocking loudly on the crooked door of the very odd looking house.

Hermione stepped back for a minute, taking in its appearance as best she could.

It reminded her of the Burrow, in its odd irregularity at least. But even though the Burrow was a very odd home indeed, there was love that exuded from every nook and cranny of the property. It could be and was called ramshackle by some, even though it was charming and cozy and warm. But Hermione realized that was because of the people within it, especially when compared to this sad little house.

Sybill's home was put together as though no one cared enough about it or its owner to put it together correctly in the first place. It was all angles, and so lopsided in its design every single part of it appeared to be off kilter, from the door to the windows to the flower beds. This wasn't a design of needed and hurried additions, as the Burrow was. Instead, this house looked neglected in its creation and even unloved in its imbalance. The chimney, which was so large as to look like it belonged on a mansion instead of the tiny cottage, was cracked almost in two. The roof, which could have been very thatched and homey, even though it slanted to the left and down in almost a ninety degree angle, had obvious holes in it where birds nested repeatedly.

Hermione shivered, thinking that it reminded her of an illustration of a witch's house she'd seen an old story book from which her mother read to her when she as a child.

"Why have I never noticed this house before?" she wondered out loud.

"Because she put a Fidelis Charm on it," Luna said, putting a finger to her lips as though it were a secret.

"Are you a secret keeper?" Hermione asked, frowning.

Luna nodded. "I feed her cat when she's away, so it was kind of a must. Oh, I'm sure Tybalt's fine, Lia."

"He is," Hermione affirmed. "He's with Crookshanks at Birdsong, chasing the garden gnomes Molly throws over their fence and onto our property."

"Is that what you ended up naming your home? I like it," Luna said, turning to knock on the door again.

"Thank you. I liked it a lot too, it fits with the number of bir-"

The door swung open, suddenly, and a very highly perfumed smoke poured out of the door, making Hermione's eyes water as she coughed uncontrollably. Luna turned away from the entrance and started pounding her on the back.

"You'll get used to it," she said, handing Hermione a handkerchief from her pocket.

Hermione shook her head, trying to keep from retching on the street.

They didn't notice two spindly arms reaching out to them from the miasma. Strong hands grabbed the two women by their shirt collars, pulling them into the house, which suddenly disappeared from sight, as though it had never been there at all.

* * *

"Where's Jibby … Minny … where's your sister, Kreacher?" Severus asked. "Can you Summon her to you?"

Kreacher shook his head gravely and sniffled. "Jibby has been drinking with Winky since she helped the Professor clean Lia's rooms. Kreacher can't do anything with her. Minny's not right in the head anymore –Kreacher thinks her magic has cracked."

Severus sighed and ground his teeth together as he stood up. He paced the length of the entrance hall, deep in thought about exactly what to do next.

He'd not though that finding Lia would be easy – in fact, part of him still questioned whether or not she really could be dead, especially after the dreams he'd been having about her. If anything, he wanted to know what exactly had happened and make sure that Narcissa paid deeply for her crimes.

"We need to get back to Hogwarts and split up," he said, looking up at Ron and Harry. "I would like to talk to Poppy myself about what exactly she's been giving Lia on the first of every month. Can the two of you handle talking to Jibby?"

"I _think_ we can manage a drunk house elf, Severus, but thanks for that," Harry replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Ron raised two fingers at him defiantly and glowered.

Severus rolled his eyes upwards to the cracked ceiling, mentally counting to ten as he took his hand off of the wand in his sleeve.

"Kreacher," he said tightly. "Can you take us all back to Hogwarts?"

"Of course, Master Snape," Kreacher replied. He lifted his hands up to the men, and then shook his head and stepped back.

"Kreacher only has two hands. Kreacher will have to take you back separately."

The elf grabbed Severus's arm. He felt the quick whirl of a masterful house elf's Apparation and thought it to be very similar to being jolted by a Portkey, especially now that he had experienced the event twice in a week's time. As soon as they cracked into sight in front of the Hospital Wing, he rubbed his stomach, feeling the remnants of the jolt he'd felt to his abdomen as soon as Kreacher had touched him.

"I'll go get the young Master, now," Kreacher said, bowing as he disappeared again, the crack a little more pronounced now in the cold and quiet halls of the school.

Severus raised his hand to knock on the door to the wing, then changed his mind and opened the door instead.

"Poppy?" he called out. The ward was empty of course, all the beds made and neat as a pin, as though they were waiting for new patients to arrive at any minute.

He turned and walked to the left, past the first bed and down the short corridor to the Nurse's office. Now he decided to knock, though it was a perfunctory curtesy at best.

"Come in," said Poppy's kind voice.

Severus opened the door, and shut it quietly behind him.

* * *

"Owww!" Harry cried out as he banged his arm into one of the chairs in the kitchen.

"Sorry, Master Harry," Kreacher said, sighing heavily. "They moved that chair since Kreacher was here this morning."

"It's alright Kreacher," Harry said. "You okay Ron?"

"Brilliant," Ron said, rubbing his stomach slightly. "Can I get a snack?"

Ten elves suddenly appeared, each with a plate of assorted biscuits, sandwiches, and other food stuffs that they knew Ron to be partial to. He picked a little from each plate before he turned back to Harry.

Harry shook his head, disgusted as he always was over his best mate's ridiculous appetite, made even more ridiculous by the fact that the git managed to remain in perfect shape and health despite the number of meals he ate a day. He snickered softly, thinking that Ron reminded him of a character from a book he'd been made to read in his last year of primary school in Little Whinging.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked, stuffing a chocolate covered biscuit in his mouth. "Oh, that's good. Winky must have had a good morning, she makes those." He licked his lips and moaned softly.

Kreacher looked up at Harry. "Does Master want Kreacher to take him to Winky and 'Minny'?"

"Please," said Harry.

Kreacher led them down the long path of the kitchen to the great fireplaces at the very back. They'd been here before, of course, a number of times during their school terms to nick food off the elves, among other things. But, they'd never been here when the school was so empty, Harry thought, vaguely aware that most of the fires were not lit, and the great cauldrons that he knew to hold vast quantities of stews and soups and chowders were empty now. Even the vague mist of steam and aromatic scents that normally filled the space were gone.

There was one smaller fire burning, just large enough to cook the meals of the castle's few summer inhabitants and along with their guests.

In front of this fire were two tiny elves, one in a tea towel so filthy that it appeared to be rotting off of her body. The second was in a very dirty tea towel of her own. Both were nursing bottles of Butterbeer and talking sullenly, though whether they were talking to each other or to themselves Harry never really did quite figure out.

"Winky was such a good elf to her Crouch's," said the dirtiest one who Harry recognized quickly as Winky. She swayed slightly in her chair and burped loudly.

"Minny -" started the cleaner of the two, hiccupping before taking another sip of her drink. "Minny was so loyal to her lady. She never wanted no harm to come to her sweet lady, nedder ones o' em," she said, slurring a little now.

Harry looked at the number of bottles around them and grimaced.

"Winky always did what was right and what Mr. Crouch wants her to do," she said gloomily.

"Minny just wanted her lady back, she means no one no harm," she said, wailing now. She threw down her drink, the bottle shattering onto the floor before the fire, and buried her face in her long, spindly looking hands, sobbing into them. "Minny wants her Lady Lia to be home where she needs to finally be!"

"Minny," Ron said calmly. He placed his snacks down on the table behind them and walked over to the elf carefully, trying to avoid the broken glass. "Do you know where Lia is?"

Minny sniffled loudly and wiped her nose and eyes on her towel. "She's resting, sir, is all Miss Ciss will tells Minny," she replied.

Ron shot a look back at Harry, who hopped around several house elves who had run up next to the drunk elves to tidy the mess.

"Minny," Harry said, squatting down next to the elf. "Actually, do you want me to call you Minny or Jibby?"

"Don't madder none," she said softly. "Minny isn't 'Minny' or 'Jibby' without her lady. Minny spends twelve years wanting her lady more than anythin' in the world. Then finds outs where she is, hiding with a new face an' a new name." She hiccupped again, loudly. "Minny thought she might gets her lady back, an' thought she was doin' the right thing by telling Miss Ciss about where she was."

She swayed again, veering so far off the stool that Harry caught her in his hands and steadied her back into upright position.

"And when Miss Ciss gots my lady back, Minny was so happy!" she said, smiling now. "My lady's new face was so pretty, and she loved Minny even if she didn' know who her Minny really was." She frowned suddenly, her face darkening with anger before she continued. "But Miss Ciss made Minny tell her all the things going on in the castle, especially about my lady and that bad dark wizard she married when she was still herself." She frowned even more now. "Miss Ciss 'specially wanted to know if they started to get too friendly with each other again. But Miss Ciss says it's just because she wants to know if Lady Lia is happy, so when Minny tells her that he and the lady …" Minny couldn't seem to finish this. Harry had never seen an elf flush before that moment, but he saw a decidedly pink tone darken her long nose and forehead. "Miss Ciss says Minny did good tellin' her, but she makes Minny bring her lady to her and now she won' let Minny see her no more!" she ended, wailing hard now, falling to the ground before Harry or Ron could catch her. They watched helplessly as she beat her arms and legs against the stone floor.

Several of the other elves, who Harry didn't recognize but who Ron waved to with recognition, passed by, turning their nose up at the situation. One even brought Harry a large blanket, motioning for him to cover her up with it.

"No thanks," he said, giving it back.

The elf frowned at him and tsk'ed the two drunk elves before leaving.

"Winky was such a good –"

"Not now, Winky," Ron said. He lifted Minny from the floor and sat her back on her stool, holding her as steady as he could.

"Minny?" asked Harry, "Where is –"

There was a loud commotion on of the other side of the kitchen. Harry looked up and saw Severus storming past the tables, almost at a run, robes swirling behind him as though he was the Dungeon Bat from his memory.

"I know where she is," Severus said, panting a little as he looked down at the scene. "I know where to find her."

A/N: _My apologies to all who read this chapter the first twelve hours after it was posted. I put up the first draft instead of the "final", dangit. Thankfully, my shy beta did catch it and admonished me for my error. Love you, "C". I'll get my spankings later ..._


	10. Crystal

Chapter 9 – Crystal

"Sybill, you really shouldn't have scared us like that," Luna said as she busied herself with opening the windows in the cockeyed sitting room.

Hermione coughed, covering her nose and mouth as the last traces of the incense started to clear away. Sitting down on the ratty old couch that sat in the corner of the room, she eyed Sybill, who was warily eyeing her as she sat down in a high backed chair across from her.

"I wouldn't have expected you to bring _her_ here, Luna," Sybill said testily, taking a discreet nip from a bottle she pulled from the pocket of her robe.

Almost gagging at the smell of sherry, Hermione covered her mouth again when she said, "I need assistance, Sybill, and Luna said you would be able to help."

"I cannot help those without the Second Sight, or who do not have the inclination–"

"Then pretend you're helping me, Sybill. Have you been communicating with anyone on the Astral Plane or higher up recently?" Luna asked, taking the seat next to Hermione, who noted that the blonde witch had apparently taken to going barefoot again as she watched her cross her legs. Luna cocked her head at her and wriggled her toes, smiling a little.

Sybill narrowed her eyes at Hermione before she answered. "But she doesn't believe – or even possess – "

"Look straight to your left," Luna said softly, motioning with her head.

They watched as Sybill looked to her left side and blanched.

"Where did she come from?" she asked, standing up and peering into the spot where Lia must have taken in the room.

"Didn't you help her when she was moving through one of the higher realms?" Luna asked.

"I didn't help Madam Stanfield do anything. I helped a pretty blonde woman who was trying to break free from her …" She paused and pulled a stack of cards from her other pocket, flipping through them rapidly. After walking over to a table that had the remnants of a cold lunch on it, she quickly shuffled the cards three times and began laying them out in a fashion that Hermione was not familiar with, since she hadn't taken the woman's class long enough to learn.

"Two of swords … eight of swords … two of wands … queen of swords," Sybill muttered while running her hands over the cards lightly. "King of wands? Hmmm. He's an even better man than we even thought."

She lit more incense with the tip of her wand, letting the smoke plume over the table before she brought the burner over to the spot to the left of her chair. When it hit the air, Hermione thought she could almost see the outline of Lia's wavy hair, before it disappeared again as the smoke dissipated.

"I guess I've missed a lot by not getting to know this one, and by secluding myself this summer without letting my eye rove over the castle. So much might have been spared," she said, staring at the space before moving back to the cards.

"Why are you playing all the suits together?" Luna asked.

"Because I prefer to," Sybill murmured and she looked over the cards again.

"What do you see?"

"Apparently Madam Stanfield has two faces and two lives, doesn't she? She's been trapped in the Muggle world, when her man was faced with a decision that no one should have to make – protecting his flame at the cost of her memory and their potential life together."

"Yes," Hermione answered, straightening a little in her seat.

Nodding, Sybill looked at the cards again. "She's trapped, in the physical world at least, by …" she put down another card. Hermione peered at the table and saw it was upside down. "Queen of Cups," Sybill said, shaking her head. "That's a shame. It could have been very different. If only …" She looked up sharply next to the chair and shook her head. "Not about Professor Snape, dear. About your Aunt. It could have been very different, if malice hadn't ruined her soul." She waved the incense again, and Hermione's heart soared when she could see the outline of Lia's face, just barely, before it faded away again.

"Five of cups?" she asked to herself. "Well, I guess that would make sense considering all the lost time. Three of pentacles." She laid out one more and smiled. "Ten of cups, then," she said, smiling as she looked back to where Lia was.

"Do you know where your body is?"

"I don't think she does, Sybil. She didn't even realize she was still connected to it until about ten minutes ago," Luna said softly, shaking her head. She wiped her face, which had become slightly damp from tears.

Sybill nodded. "We'll have to fix that, because you're going to be found soon, and your soul needs to be in your body when you wake up."

Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, Hermione breathed in again with a sob. Her shoulders shook as she attempted to control her emotions, but she found she couldn't. Luna patted her back, very gently, as she let the tears flow down her face. She sensed, rather than felt, another hand on the opposite side of her back, caressing her as gently as a spring breeze.

"She's going to be okay?" Hermione asked, looking up into the absurdly bespectacled face that held one of the kindest pair of eyes she'd ever seen.

"Of course she is. Ten of cups girl, best card in the set. If you'd stayed in my class, you might have known that," she said, tutting as she wandered back to the table and gathered up her cards. "Come," she said, conjuring two small stools next to her.

Hermione ducked as a crystal ball floated by her head as she sat down. She stared into it, but only saw a swirling fog similar to the atmosphere around them now.

After clearing the table of the left-over food and sitting down in her chair, Sybill gathered the ball to her with a sigh. She rubbed it gently, as though to warm it, and gazed into it intently at first. But, then her eyes seemed to relax behind her huge glasses as she hummed softly.

Hermione frowned. She listened to the tune and knew it to be familiar, but could not place it in her memory just now.

"What song are you humming, Sybill? Hermione wants to know," Luna asked as she rested her chin on her hands.

"It's called 'The Seer's Child', dear," she said absentmindedly as she continued to gaze into the ball.

"Lia hummed it to me this morning," Hermione said tearfully as she remembered. "What are the words?"

Sybill's eyes flickered with tears of her own as she glanced up. "Do you know it, Luna? I don't know if I can manage the words."

"Oh sure," Luna said. She patted Hermione's hand. "My mum used to sing it to me when I was little. It's a nursery rhyme with a tune for wizard children, so you wouldn't know it just yet. It makes Sybill sad, because she didn't have any children for fear that she might –"

"Hush now, Luna," Sybill said, who looked like she was concentrating harder now.

With a sigh, Luna began to sing.

 _"_ _Children of Seers long for tears  
_ _As time of the future is told  
_ _When the world turns round and the fears  
_ _Of men and wizards are out and sold_

 _They go on through the times and years  
_ _Seeking a way to hide from the fold  
_ _Yet all is for naught, the end so near  
_ _The world is young, the child so old."_

"That's so sad," said Hermione.

"It's true, though, for most children of Seer's. But Lia's mum was very careful, wasn't she?"

"Very," said Sybill. She stroked the ball again, her face now completely lax. After a time, it appeared that she might not be breathing. Then, suddenly, her mouth opened and she began to cough, smoke pouring out of her as though she were smoking a pipe.

"Do you remember where you used to live, before your life was taken away from you?" Sybill asked quietly.

"I remember everything."

Hermione looked up. There, standing next to her, was Lia.

"Thank Merlin," Hermione cried, as she grabbed her small, soft hand into her own. She looked as she did when she was Amelia Stanfield, except that her eyes shifted back and forth between blue and grey. Then Hermione realized her whole appearance shifted periodically as though there was no control of it - hair became blonde with wild corkscrew curls and back again to amber waves, skin faded to pale white and back to rosy and freckled, the mole above her lip came and went as well.

"About time," Sybill said, looking up from the ball now. "Why couldn't you accept that you aren't dead?"

Lia just shook her head and smiled. "Well, this isn't really the norm, is it? I guess some baser part of me thought I might be a ghost until you started dredging me with that horrible smoke."

Sybill shrugged and tapped her wand, commanding the ball to float back to its home on the crooked bookcase. "What's normal?" she asked.

"Touché," Lia said, smiling softly. She took the Seer's hand in her own and kissed it gently.

"Can you find your way back? It's not too far from here, and you _can_ fly – at least in this Astral form you can."

"I'm ready, now," Lia said.

She squeezed Hermione's hand in hers before she dropped a kiss to her forehead. She smelled like lavender and honey just like she always had. "See you soon, my sweet." She touched Luna's face and smiled vividly. "Teach me this, when I come back."

Hermione watched in amazement as her feet lifted from the ground as though she were one of the Hogwart's House ghosts, except that she was real.

"Don't knock through the –"

"I see it," Lia said, dodging the chandelier as she disappeared from sight.

"Where's her body, Sybill?" Luna asked.

"Selwyn Manor, apparently."

* * *

"But we were just there yesterday," Harry said, running as fast as he could to catch up with Severus.

"I know," he said.

"And the portrait told you – " Ron started.

" _I know!"_ Severus shouted.

Ron stopped running, but unfortunately Harry was following too closely behind and ran straight into him, knocking them both onto the floor.

Severus heard the commotion and groaned, stopping his run and turning back to the two men, who were sprawled out over the carpet in front of the Hospital Wing.

"Get up."

They stood, wiping the lint off of each other while checking for injury.

"Did Sarah lie?" Harry asked, wincing as he rubbed his wrist.

"Obviously," Severus said, opening the door to the hospital wing.

Laying very still on the bed closest to them was Poppy Pomphrey.

"What happened to her?" Ron asked. He walked up next to the bed and touched her head with his hand.

"I had to Stun her," Severus said. "There are Healers coming in from St. Mungo's any minute to take her with them." He took a deep breath before he continued, Occluding his mind so that he could explain this as simply and calmly as he could.

"Poppy has been under the Imperious Curse for most of the year," he said, staring down at the witch with pity. "The Ministry doesn't track that or the Cruciatus Curse in the school as I teach them in my NEWTs class. At least, I used to," he said. "She's been watching everything, along with Minny, and reporting back to Narcissa. She's been giving Lia a Fertility Potion every month, calling it a Vitamix. She hasn't taught Lia any specifics on Vitamin potions yet, nor have I – it's a Master's level potion to make, so she wouldn't have known anything was wrong. Poppy also gave Oliver Wood … Amortentia," he said, spitting the words out.

"No way, mate," Ron said.

"It explains his behavior though, Ron," Harry said. "Oliver's as good as they come – Ginny and I couldn't believe what you told us about the way he'd been acting last year. That's not like him."

Severus nodded, now regretting the beating he'd given the young man.

"How'd you find this out?" Ron asked, picking up Poppy's arm and watching it fall limply against the bed.

"She's been fighting the Curse all year. When she was able to, she kept a diary with what Narcissa was making her do against her will and hid it from herself. She was able to give it to me just before the Curse came back into control, just as I arrived. I had to Stun her to keep her from hurting herself."

"She's a strong witch, isn't she? Like my mum," Ron said.

"Very," Severus said nodding his head. "Dilys wasn't aware of it either, and I'm sure she's been cursing all the way to St. Mungo's – she put up enough of a show when I carried Poppy out of the office and explained what happened."

"Ladies my age don't curse, Severus Snape," said a tall portrait over the exit of the wing.

Severus looked up and frowned at the silver wigged woman eyeing him when mild suspicion.

"You spoke rather colorfully and directly, Headmistress," he replied. "Are the Healers coming?"

"They are Floo'ing into Minerva's office as we speak."

"Will you report to them what's happened to her?"

"Most assuredly," Dilys said, sniffing a little.

The door opened, but instead of the Healers he'd been expecting, Severus saw Kreacher and Minny – or whatever her name was – walk in.

"Kreacher wants to help rescue the Black Heir, the only daughter of the great hero, Regulus," he said gravely.

"Jibby," cried the female elf, "wants to help too."

"Are you sober?" asked Ron, sniffing her a little.

"Kreacher fixed that it a jiff, don't you worry none, young sir," he said with a short bow.

"Jibby is clear minded as she can be, consid'ring what she done," the elf said. "Jibby wants to make things right."

Severus sighed and quickly stiffened, thinking he could smell lavender in the air around him.

 _Serenity, grace, and calmness._

"Take us to Selwyn Manor," he said.

The two elves nodded and laid their hands on the wizards. With a great crack, they all disappeared from sight.

 _A/N: Sometimes, do you ever just want to fix things you thought to be unfair? Sybill was way better than she ever let on, in my book anyways. If I had that power, you'd better believe I'd pretend I didn't. Self-preservation._


	11. Belief

Chapter 10 – Belief

The estate in front of them looked as neglected as it had two days ago before Severus lifted the enchantments – maybe even worse than before. The giant weeds now completely obscured the great house from view and were so thick and large in size they looked almost impossible to cut down or pass through.

The only thing completely different was the gate, which maybe now they were finally seeing clearly for the first time.

The rusted, black iron was meticulously crafted into the shape of a huge dragon.

Severus looked down at the elves, who were busy fussing at each other over the appearance of the lands in front of them.

"Jibby should have checked back last year, but Miss Ciss says that she can handle ever'thing, and now look at my poor lady's house," she cried.

"Finite," he murmured, hoping that it would end the spell as it had done previously.

When he looked up, he saw nothing whatsoever had changed. The lands were still as overgrown and jungle-like as before.

"Can you end the enchantment, Jibby?" he asked.

"No," she said morosely. "Miss Ciss is technically Jibby's mistress, and Jibby can't break it unless she asks.. She takes control of the house when Lady Lia ne'er came back from school. She was none too happy that someone made the vaults disappear at the banks, she went on about that until Jibby had enough an' asked to serve at Hogwarts."

Severus frowned. He'd have to finally ask Bill how he made that happen, when this was all over and done with.

"Can you do it, Kreacher?" asked Harry.

Kreacher snapped his fingers.

Nothing happened.

Kreacher stamped his foot and snapped the fingers on both of his large hands, twice in rapid succession.

Nothing changed at all.

"Kreacher doesn't know what's wrong," he said, shaking his head and snapping his fingers again.

"She must have some powerful spells on the home if Kreacher can't break them," Ron said. He frowned and closed his eyes, cocking it to the side as he did when he was deep in thought.

"What?" Severus asked.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking, give me a minute," Ron answered, turning from the group.

"Alohomora," Harry said, pointing his wand at the rusty lock on the gate. Sparks flew from the lock, but otherwise it remained as firmly closed as it was before.

"Incendio," Severus said.

"Reducto," Harry said, frustrated.

Severus quickly cast a Shield Charm over the group to protect them from the amount of sparks that flew back.

"Fiendfyre?" Harry asked.

"Do you want an outcome similar to what happened when it was let loose in the Room of Hidden Things?" Severus sneered. "Then we would really see a dragon."

Harry shrugged and lifted his wand.

"That was not encouragement, Harry. Just … stop, okay?"

Severus had had enough. He began to pace in front of the gates, much like he did when he prowled the castle at night when he was unable to sleep. How would they get in? The Manor home was bound so tightly with enchantments that he couldn't even begin to think of a counter – especially if a house elf's magic couldn't undo it. Surely this couldn't be it. They couldn't wait her out in front of the gates, especially when she could conjure almost anything she needed at a moment's notice, other than food, and Severus was sure Narcissa had made as many precautions on that as possible. She seemed to have thought of everything else.

What they needed a sword or an ax something similar to it. Something tangible that they could use to break through to the home. But it would have to be reinforced with magic in order to break through the spells, and very strong – Goblin made would really be the only thing that would work.

"What about the Sword of Gryffindor?" Ron called out, running back to the group from where he'd walked off.

Severus closed his eyes. How could he have missed that? He'd handled it himself, once upon a time.

"Do either of you remember how to call upon the Sword of Godric Gryffindor?" he asked, staring back at Ron and Harry.

Harry smirked. "Well, maybe someone could throw it into a frozen lake for us to find? Want to head to the Forest of Dean in the dead of winter and give it a go?"

Severus fought back a smile. That had been … idiotic to watch, really. He thought the boy would have simply cut through the ice and Summoned it to him, but no – he had to dive into the water and almost drown himself in the process since he wasn't bright enough to take off the locket. Just when he had been about to go save the boy himself and Obliviate him, the other one had finally shown up to save the day. It had been dumb sheer luck that Ron had shown up at the right time.

"Anyone got the Sorting Hat? It's come out of that twice," Ron said. "Where'd it go after the War?"

Harry shrugged. "It disappeared again. Neville had it after he killed the snake, but he laid it down in the Great Hall and it was gone when he looked back at it. It'll come back to a Gryffindor in need, though, if legend still holds out."

Two soft pops sounded one after another to the right of the small group. Five pairs of eyes swung around to find three very surprised looking witches staring back at them.

"My inner eye should have foreseen this," Sybill said, taking out her cards again and muttering to herself.

"Uh-oh," said Luna, letting go of Hermione's arm and backing away.

"Woman," said Ron hotly. "I thought we told you to –"

Hermione shook her head and stood her ground, pointing at Ron in a fashion that reminded Severus of Molly Weasley on a very, very bad day.

"Ronald Bilius Weasley, no one _tells_ me to do anything! You gave me a suggestion, and I decided that I didn't disagree with it at the time. I disagree now, which is why we're here," she said, pointing to a very passive looking Luna and a very surprised looking Sybill. " _We_ know where she is, and furthermore we know that she is alive in there and under some kind of false sleep that made her think she was dead. What does that sound like Severus?"

"Draught of Living Death," he said, disturbed but also relaxing ever so slightly. He could have an antidote ready for that in a couple of hours if the vial he kept in his store room wasn't strong enough.

 _That is, if she wasn't …_

"I thought so too. We have to get her out of there, now. I don't think Narcissa knows that you can't administer it for more than a week – she may be dosing her continually," she said, looking at Sybill for help. "I know you said Ten of Cups is the best card in the deck and that everything will be okay, but what if it's wrong?"

"It won't be, Hermione, please don't get too upset," Sybill said, conjuring a small stool for her to sit on. "You have to trust what you do not understand."

Hermione gratefully sat on the offered seat, stroking her stomach as she stretched her back.

"Thank you, Sybill," she said.

"Ten of Cups," the Seer whispered back to her, winking as she began to shuffle the deck again.

"Why take the chance on Apparating? You know that's dangerous," Ron said, rubbing her back and looking as though he was doing his best not to scold her.

"I did a side along with Luna, that's safe, remember?" she asked.

"I guess," he said. "But why take the risk?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because my best friend is in _there_ ," she said, pointing to the estate, "my other best friend, along with my husband – oh, shut it, you're my best friend too, and my … "

She looked at Severus, as though she was trying to fight off tears. Severus walked to her side and took her hand in his.

"My _father_ , are out here trying to help her, and _we_ can help everyone."

Severus squeezed her hand as gently as he could, even though he wanted to paddle her with it for breaking her word that she would stay safe at Hogwarts.

"What do you know, Hermione?" he asked.

"The dreams you've been having – don't deny it, I've been having the same ones."

He raised an eyebrow suggestively and pursed his lips.

Hermione flushed. "Well, maybe not the exact same ones, but you know what I mean. Her soul has been outside of her body on another Plane, staying close to us."

"They are only dreams," he said sadly. "Don't confuse dreams with reality. It'll make you heart sick."

"They weren't dreams, Severus – it really was her! You have to believe it or we'll never get her out of there!"

"She's right, Professor Snape," Luna said happily. "I saw her too."

"You'll have to trust us," Sybill added. "She's really alive."

He stepped back and clutched his chest. Staggering back against the gate, he tried to catch his breath, but found he couldn't. Suddenly every single breath that he took in smelled like _her_ , to the point he felt like he was in absolute agony.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, unable to believe anything but his own truth. He'd been trying to make himself so ready to walk in and find her as he had always been afraid to find her since the day of the Third Task: limp on the floor, lifeless, pulseless. Dead. Except that their child would not be crying in a crib, it would be gone too, smothered inside the womb of her cold body.

Why couldn't they let him ready himself for it?

"Believe it, Severus. You have to try," Hermione repeated.

"Croyez-le, mon amour," whispered a soft voice that he knew better than his own.

 _I'm as insane as Draco now, thank Merlin._

"It's Lia!" Harry said, shocked.

Severus turned and saw her standing next to him, hand raised as though she were about to tap him on the shoulder. Instead, she placed her hand over the one on his chest, entwining their fingers together.

"Are you really alive in there?" he asked brokenly.

She nodded, tears spilling out of eyes that were rapidly changing color from grey to blue, the rest of her appearance also shifting quickly from one form to the other.

"I missed you for so long," he said, touching her face gently. He ran his thumb over her lips – it was the one feature that hadn't changed and remained completely static.

"I missed you too, you big arsehole," she said, gazing up at him with the look that signaled she was trying her best not to laugh.

"Gods, it is you, you little minx," he said, kissing her as though they had all the time in the world to just stand there and snog like a couple of teenagers. She tasted and smelled like her, like _her_ , like she had when she was eighteen and completely innocent, just as she had when she was thirty two and they had found each other all over again.

"Of course it's me," she whispered. "But I've got to get back to my body, and you have to come find me. Can you do that?"

"Yes," he said, kissing her one last time.

"Do you believe it?"

He held her eyes with his, believing it completely when he replied, "Yes."

"I'll see you soon, my love," she said, just before she passed through the gates and disappeared from sight.

For the first time since he found the box with her and Draco's hair, he finally felt the one thing that had been missing from his life since she was Confunded from his memory until she reappeared last year.

He felt hope.

He reached into his sleeve to pull out his wand, frowning as he pulled out the one thing he hadn't expected to willingly find its way into the hands of the Head of the Slytherin House.

Instead of his wand, he held the sword of Godric Gryffindor.

 _A/N: I'll explain it later (or maybe I won't). It's a fairy tale, remember? All sorts of good things happen in fairy tales, even things that aren't supposed to be true._


	12. Luck

Chapter 11 - Luck

"Well, that's a surprise," said Ron. He walked up to Severus and touched the sword, as though he had to feel its weight so that he could believe it was real.

Severus stared at the sword, hoping his expression didn't look as dumbfounded as he felt.

"But you're not a Gryffindor," Harry said.

"Well done on stating the obvious," Severus said, covertly peering into his sleeve to make sure his wand was still there. It was. He noticed the sun was beginning to set – the sky was just starting to get darker. "We better get moving before night falls," he said, turning to the gate.

He hefted the sword, which was really lighter than he remembered it to be, though it was substantial nonetheless. It made him glad he used relatively little magic in practical day to day life. Though he was no longer the lean and strong younger man as he had been when he first met Lia, he was still very fit, mostly due to manually lugging cauldrons around the dungeons and dueling the teenaged wizards in his classes.

When he touched the large lock on the gate with the sword, the lock simply melted away. The ooze of silver and rust dropped onto the ground below, where it sizzled. The gates swung open with a loud screech at just the slightest touch now, though that touch _was_ from an enchanted sword. He walked through, motioning for the rest of them to stay back for a minute. It was almost pitch black inside the gates, so thick was the overhanging cover of trees, weeds, and other plants.

"Wands at the ready everyone, and I'll need you all to cast a Lumos Maxima for us to be able to find our way around."

Five human heads nodded as they pulled out their wands. Minny and Kreacher both snapped their fingers, producing large balls of light that floated before them.

"Let's go," Severus said, leading them into the forest.

He hacked at the first set of roots and stems blocking the path. They melted away with a satisfying hiss as soon as the sword touched them.

"Maybe it'll be easier than we thought," Harry said, who was at Severus's side.

Severus nodded, feeling a little dizzy with optimism as he realized he only needed to touch the plants with the tip of the sword to make them disappear. Hope began to spring in his mind again that he really would be reunited with Lia now – mind, body, and soul. The thought made him work quicker and more efficiently, making long sweeps with the sword now. Little by little, the wilderness around them began to melt away, revealing the beautiful grounds of the estate once more.

They progressed to the Manor quickly, though by the time they arrived the entire group was at his side to light the way. Briefly looking up at the heavens above them, he saw that the sky was full of stars, for indeed there was no moon in the sky at all tonight. He couldn't help but sneer at the over bright Dog Star, but when he thought he almost could see Regulus, ever so faintly twinkling in the summer sky, the sneer left his face completely.

"You sees it too, then?" Kreacher asked, pulling on Severus's sleeve.

Severus looked down and saw the tears rolling from the elf's great eyes. He nodded and gently patted Kreacher's head.

"We fight for him tonight too, Master. Not just for his heir. We fight for all who gets put under the spell of evil and treachery," Kreacher said, snapping his fingers to make his ball of light even brighter as he moved ahead of the group now, ducking under the roots of the plants and lighting the way ahead.

Soon, the house was in view, looming ahead of them like a silent, dark giant. It appeared that there was not a candle or lamp lit in the home, though looks could be very deceiving. Severus swept the sword ever faster into the terrain now, though his arms were aching from the efforts and he could feel his muscles begin to quiver.

"Do you need to trade off?" Harry asked, still at his side.

"No," Severus said. "I have to do this. I think, somehow, that it has to _be_ me doing this."

"Why?"

"Because, that's my lady in there. I should be the one to rescue her, even though I need help from others." Severus thought he heard Hermione whisper the word, 'chauvinist' from where she stood, but he decided to ignore it for now. "And, there is something else that I sometimes do forget."

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"I am half a Prince, after all." Severus said, trying to hold in a smile.

He stopped as he felt the sword hit something solid and firm. It was touching the door of the house.

"Should we knock?" asked Luna, bringing up her hand to do so.

"Stop, Professor Longbottom," Severus said impatiently. He examined the door, and noticed the knocker, which was fashioned to look like a dragon's head.

"How did we miss that?" Harry asked.

Severus shook his head and touched the door handle with the sword. It melted away, just as everything else had.

"Stay behind me," he said as he pushed the door open.

The house was bathed with darkness.

"Lights?" Hermione whispered.

"Now," Severus replied.

"Incendio Totalus."

Every sconce, lamp, fireplace, and candle in the house suddenly erupted with light so bright that Severus had to squint for a minute until his eyes adjusted to the dramatic change.

"Honey, we're home," Ron murmured.

Harry grunted.

"Do we have company?" cried a voice in the sitting room.

Severus walked ahead, looking into the room. It was empty, except for the portrait of Lia's mother, who was smiling brightly.

"You came back!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Did you find her?"

"She's been here the whole time, Sarah. We know you lied to us," Severus said angrily.

"Why would I do something like that? I don't lie, Sarah told me that very specifically. She never lied, so I never must lie," she said, obviously confused.

"Then _we_ must have missed something," Ron said as he walked into the room.

"Sarah," Harry said. "Have you noticed anything weird happening in the house lately?"

She appeared to think about it for a minute before she replied. "Well, not really, no."

"What?" Harry asked.

"I guess I hadn't thought about it before, but sometimes when I wake up from my naps and what nots I can't see anything for a while."

"How long has that been going on?" Ron asked.

"Years and years. It's normal for a painting to get covered from time to time, especially in unused old houses like this one so we don't get dusty, but it's been happening more and more over the last couple of months."

"Do you ever hear anything odd?" Harry asked.

"No, but when you're covered up you can't really hear anything anyways," she said, shrugging.

"Why didn't you mention that before, Sarah?" Severus asked.

"Why, was it important?" She looked very fretful and nervous. "She's been here this whole time? Oh my gods." She started to wring her hands. "Get on with it. Don't worry with me – I'm obviously not going to do you any good, get moving."

They left the sitting room and went back into the entrance hall.

"Do you know exactly where she is in the house?" Severus asked the three women.

"She's in her room, sleeping," said Sybill.

"I can takes you there, Master," Kreacher said.

"Me, too," said Jibby.

"Stay here," Severus said to the group as they began to walk up the stairs.

"Don't you want some help?"

He looked back at Ron and Harry. At first he almost relented, until he saw Hermione bite her lip and sit down on one of the chairs. He knew she could take care of herself, and he knew even with her oddities that Luna was indeed a very powerful witch, as was Sybill in her own way. As he weighed the decision, he shifted the sword in his hands.

"No," he said, finally. "If anything is wrong I'll send one of the elves. I think they'll be enough help, for now."

"We'll look around down here," Ron said.

"Probably a good idea," Severus said before he looked down at the elves again. "Can we Apparate to her room?"

"No," Kreacher said. "What she's done to the house is strong. We'll have to walk."

"So be it," Severus said. He followed them up the long flight of stairs to the second floor. The elves turned to the left, and he followed them past several doors before they showed him a small alcove at the end of the corridor.

"The door to her tower was right there," whispered Jibby, running up to it while snapping her fingers rapidly.

"Her tower?"

Kreacher looked up and answered, "When she was a baby Master Regulus used to read her Muggle fairytales from a book he found in old Master Orion's things. Mistress Sarah read the books to her after he died, so when came to this house Jibby and I makes her a tower room in the attic, like all the princesses in the stories had."

Severus snorted as he walked to the little space that Jibby was frantically running her hands over while snapping her fingers.

"Why can'ts my magic be working?" she asked.

He shook his head and touched the space with the sword. The glamour melted away, revealing a white door that was painted over with lavender sprigs. A small sign which read "Serena Cordelia Selwyn" hung at the top.

Jibby opened the door and motioned for the two to follow, holding a finger to her non-existent lips. They followed her up the winding staircase, until they came to a second door, this one unpainted and made with heavy oak. Severus touched it with the sword, and it swung open. Light poured out of the room into the darkened staircase. He held a hand up over his eyes as he felt momentarily blinded.

"Severus? I've been expected you," said the falsely sweet voice from within.

* * *

"Will you be alright if we look around?" Ron asked Hermione.

She just scowled at him.

"Of course we'll be alright," Luna said, waving her hands at them to leave.

Ron shrugged and kissed the top of Hermione's head.

"We'll be back in ten minutes," Harry said.

They walked around the staircase into the back part of the house, beyond the fancy open rooms in the front that were filled with antiques and relics.

They started opening doors randomly, trying to get a feel for the layout of the house.

One door led into a library so vast it put the library at Hogwarts to shame.

"Best not let Hermione see that, or she'll never want to leave," said Ron, shutting the door quickly.

The next door opened into a large bathroom with golden fixtures and bathtub so large it reminded Harry of the Prefects bath at the school.

"Bingo," said Ron, as they opened the door to the kitchen.

"You can't be serious," Harry said as Ron opened the icebox and pulled out a plate of sandwiches.

"That was a very long walk, Harry. I feel a little weak," Ron replied. "Sileo." He lifted the Stasis Charm from the food and lifted a sandwich to his mouth, taking a large bite. "Oh, that's good. Narcissa must make a good sandwich."

Harry shook his head with disgust as he looked around the rest of the kitchen. There was a fire lit in one of the hearths. He cautiously walked up to it and peered into the steaming mist.

"Soup?" Ron asked as he walked up behind him.

"Not unless you want to sleep for one hundred years, Ron. That's Draught of Living Death. Don't you remember anything from Potions?"

"Nah," he replied, taking another bite and chewing thoughtfully. "Out of sight, out of mind."

"Useless," Harry muttered, stepping back from the fire.

"What's that thing?" Ron asked, pointing to a smaller pot next to it.

Harry looked back, seeing the tiny bubbling cauldron, no larger than a thimble really. He looked around the kitchen and found a pair of tongs. Carefully, he grabbed hold of the vessel and brought it out of the fire, setting it down on the large working counter behind them.

"I wish Severus was here, he'd know," Harry said.

"We'll get Hermione. I bet she can figure it out," Ron said.

"Oh. Sweet. Merlin."

They looked up and saw the three witches in the corner of the kitchen.

"Do you know what that is?" continued Sybill, running up to the little container and peering at it.

"No," answered the boys in unison.

"That's where she's been getting all her power."

"What is it, Sybill?" asked Luna, looking at it from over her shoulder.

"It's Felix Felicis, fused with an Everlasting Elixer," Hermione finished.

Harry swung his head back. He remembered how he felt the one time he'd taken the potion in his 6th year, and how everything had completely gone his way that day. Maybe just a drop or two …

"No," said Sybill, swatting his hand away from it.

Luna grabbed his hand and physically put it at his side. "It's why she's so mad, now. Don't you see Harry? No one can handle the effects of Felix forever, it makes them …"

"Completely and utterly unstable," said Hermione. "But the cauldron containing it has to bubble continuously for the effects to last."

She grabbed the tongs from Ron's hands and grabbed the little cauldron, tossing it as well as the tongs into the bigger cauldron containing the Draught of Living Death. The pot began to swirl violently, turning red as vicious smoke poured out of it.

"Oh dear," Sybill said, taking Luna's hand and backing away.

"I guess I shouldn't have done that," Hermione said, carefully raising her wand at the angry mess.

"I should say so," said a heavily accented voice from the back of the room.


	13. Kiss

Chapter 12 – Kiss

"Narcissa," said Severus, warily assessing the witch.

He walked through the door and into a room he would have known was Lia's even if the elves hadn't told him. It was warmly decorated in creams and browns, similarly to her rooms in the castle. Books of every subject imaginable were stacked neatly in the bookshelves that lined the walls, and what wall space that didn't contain a bookshelf was covered in pictures of Lia with the people that she loved most.

Narcissa was sitting in a chair at the far corner of the room. She didn't even bother with standing to greet him; instead, she sat at as regally as a queen sitting on her throne. In fact, in her snow white robes, with her golden hair braided and wound around the top of her head and a golden chalice in hand, she very much looked as though she were indeed a queen in all of her splendor and glory.

As if she were reading his thoughts, she raised a dark eyebrow at him and bowed her head slightly.

Laid out on the bed in front of her, as still and pale as a dead body, was Lia. Still dressed in the long green dress he'd last seen her in, her wavy, strawberry blonde hair was fanned around her face and body like a veil. She could have been a corpse, except for the faint bloom of life still glowing in her cheeks.

"Miss Ciss, what did you do to my la-"

Narcissa flicked her wand, and Severus spun around to see the door slam shut before the elves could enter the room.

"Well, well, well. That's enough of that rabble," she said, smiling coyly. "How are you, my old friend? It's been a long time."

"Ten years," he agreed as he slowly moved towards her.

"Too long," she sighed, flicking her wand again. The lights in the room softened, casting an eerie glow upon every surface.

"Why did you do it, Cissy? She thought you loved her like your own child," he said, stilling as he saw a picture at his left of she and Lia when Lia was perhaps ten years old. They had their arms around each other and Narcissa kissed her cheek over and over again in an endless loop.

"Why did I do what, Severus?" she said, simpering a little as she sat the chalice down on the table next to her. "Why did I bring my beloved Goddaughter home? Why did I try to protect her within the walls of Hogwarts? Why did I try to match her with a Pure-blood from a good, blameless family?" Her grin softened, and she chewed her bottom lip before she continued. "Why didn't I tell Potter who she really was?"

"Please don't tell me this is entirely about me," he said, glancing at another picture of the Lia, Sarah, and Narcissa having a picnic out of the grounds of the house when she was about fifteen, perhaps. They were all laughing at something out of the camera shot, Lia falling over on the grass as the other two women fanned their faces.

"Of course it's about you, you idiot." She sighed and stood up, walking towards him now in a graceful, slow pace, holding her head high and proud, just as Lia held her head when she first walked into his office.

"You stole my family. Every last one of them, Severus," she said.

"And just how did I do that?"

"Oh, well, where shall I begin?" she asked, her eyes bright now as the smile left her face. "Where _shall_ I begin, you pathetically simple man?

"Once upon a time I had a wonderful husband who adored me, and a son who had the promise of doing anything and everything he ever wanted. I had a cousin who I loved as dearly as a sister, and a Goddaughter who I adored more than I ever could have my own daughter, if I'd been able to have one. I had a grand house, servants, money, and more importantly I had the promise of life beyond myself – more generations of Malfoys and Blacks. And by your actions – your pathetic actions by playing both sides, you managed to take every single one of those things from me.

"Perhaps it started when you held this girl in your arms when she was just a babe, and couldn't recognize her to be your flame because your greasy hair and your love of a dirty Mudblood got in the way. You couldn't and didn't protect her from the Dark Lord's insanity, which caused Regulus to lose his mind and die trying to kill him."

He tried to argue, but she silenced and petrified him with a flick of her wand. The sword dropped from his hand as his entire body froze into place. He thought about calling to the wand tucked into his sleeve with his mind, but he left it alone for now, hoping she would think he had only armed with the sword.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried.

 _Maybe not._

"Well, that's better. Let's move ahead to when you left Lucius to rot in Azkaban, 'powerless' to get him out even when you were at the right hand of glory?" she accused, voice dripping with venom. "Your best friend, Severus. You were like brothers, and yet you let him sit in a cold cell, tormented by the Dementors. And he never recovered from it. _Never,_ " she said viciously, as though the words were ripped from her throat.

She moved in closer to him still, past the edge of the bed now. He could just make out her necklace – heavy, goblin made silver holding a medallion that sat snuggly between her breasts. The Malfoy Crest was imprinted on it – the dragons heavily etched into the silver.

"You vowed to protect my son – unbreakably vowed to make sure he was safe. And yet my son sits at St. Mungo's, unable to do anything other than stare at the wall in front of him like a simpleton. And you've naught lifted a finger to try to help cure him - _you,_ the greatest Potion's Master in all of Europe don't seem to care a fig for the little boy who looked up to you like a hero, long before anyone else thought you to be anything other than a bastard.

"You didn't life a finger to help Lucius, either, at the end of the war. My husband, my _dead_ husband, who you couldn't seem to help, even though you were the hero of the day, and everyone just was dying to hear what made you into such a daring and romantic spy. Ministry dinners with the top of the crust. Too bad you couldn't use that influence to save Lucius from his demise," she said, spitting at him from where she stood.

"When you finally did see this girl for what she really was, when she was just a teenaged girl and still as innocent as the babe you first met, you married her and defiled her Pure womb with your seed. Then you stole her away from me instead of trying to find another way to protect her. _I_ would have protected her from anything, Severus. _I_ would have kept her home and kept her safe from everything! Who do you think whispered into the Dark Lord's ear that she would return to him? Who placated him with stories of her return and their eventual triumph over the Mudbloods and Muggles. _Me!"_ She screamed, her blue eyes crazed now and glowing with rage.

"So why did I take her back now, after I found out that you had defiled her yet again, despite my best efforts to put her with a better man?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and looking back at the bed, stroking Lia's red hair with her hand. "Because I hoped it would kill you to lose her again, you pathetic odious scum. And I would rather her to sleep through eternity, just as Draco sleeps, than endure a life with you."

He felt the tears run down his face with every word she spoke.

All of her statements could be interpreted as true if you didn't know the entire story from all perspectives. Her words didn't bother him, at least he told himself that with every new utterance that came from her lips. That is, until he heard a statement that rang completely true. It shut him down completely to hear her be so correct about one thing, the one thing that had hung over his head to the point he never spoke of it.

He'd done so little to help Draco, other than send financial support from time to time to help pay for his care, as he felt it was the right thing to do. He felt shame now, coursing through his body, that he hadn't done more to figure out how to cure him of his malady.

She sneered at him and shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Save your tears for someone who cares, Severus. It's really too bad about the baby, though. I tried, I truly did, but it would seem fate worked against your favor yet again," she said spitefully.

The tears came more rapidly now, and he wondered when he gotten accustomed to the idea of even being a father. It wasn't something either he or Lia wanted, ever, and yet … and yet the idea of holding their child in his arms, even if it carried the Dark Lord's line, had somehow made his heart warm slightly.

The child would also be Dumbledore's blood, of course.

And Lily's, in a way.

 _And Harry's._

He was glad he couldn't roll his eyes or shudder.

Whether or not those ties would have protected the child's life and cancelled out the Gaunt line, he couldn't know.

And now, he would never know.

Narcissa lifted her wand again.

"Now, don't fight what I'm about to do Severus, please. Take your licking just like your true Master did the night you murdered him."

She grinned, and it looked like the smile of a serpent.

" _Avada Kedavra."_

He let his eyes blur as he accepted his fate, as he couldn't flick a hand or bat an eye to send magic out of his body. His only thoughts were of Lia, with the hope that they would one day find each other again on the other side of the veil.

He tried to let his eyes come back into focus when he realized he wasn't dead and had never been touched by the curse. Narcissa was frozen, suspended in time in the position she had been in when she stopped speaking – wand mid flick, mouth still open and angry.

The charms on his body flickered away.

"Accio," he said, calling his wand back to him.

He looked down at the sword, which had dropped in front of his leg when it fell from his hand. There was a small green hole that smoked gently on the tip of the blade, which sealed itself back up before the entire sword disappeared from sight completely.

Severus walked to where Narcissa still stood and touched her with his wand, ever so gently. She collapsed to the ground as though she were only asleep, though she was dead from her own poorly aimed Curse.

"Lia," he said, walking over to her bedside. He took her hand into his and felt that she was warm. A hand on her chest confirmed that she breathed and her heart was pounding wildly. But she could not wake, of course.

"I'll get you some of the Wiggenweld Potion as soon as we back to the castle," he said, smoothing her hair away from her face. "And you'll come back to me."

"You won't have to wait that long," said a strongly accented Scottish voice.

He looked back and saw that the door had opened. Minerva was standing there, along with Hermione, Luna, Harry, Ron, Sybill, as well as the two elves who were peering out from between the legs of the much taller wizards.

"How did you know?" he asked, catching the small bottle Minerva tossed to him.

"A little bird told me," she said, laughing as Neville joined the group as well.

He shook head as he opened the bottle and tried to open Lia's mouth. It was clamped shut and unmovable. Frowning, he tried to dab some on his fingers and rub it on her gums, but to no avail.

"We may need to take her back to Hogwarts so I can make a stronger potion," he said, re-stoppering the vial and standing up so that he could carry her in his arms.

"Professor Snape," Luna said. "Why don't you take a swallow of some, and place your mouth over hers like you're about to give her a kiss. You might be able to get it in her mouth, that way."

He wanted to lay into her like he would have when she was a student, before he remembered a footnote in the book Lia gave him for his birthday – his first birthday present. The footnote had indicated the exact method Luna described had been used once to revive a maiden who had accidentally taken the Draught in the fourteenth century.

He drank the liquid, holding it in his mouth as he touched his lips to her. Her lips were warm, and parted easily as he touched them with his own. Her mouth parted slightly as her mouth went slack, and it just enough to let the liquid pass through.

His breath hitched, and though he tried to pull himself back he couldn't seem to stop kissing her, even though the potion had left his mouth and surely he would go to hell for violating her like this. Even when he felt hands running through his hair and a surprised murmur that was certainly Hermione telling him to stop, he kept his lips to hers. He ignored the hands and the noise, shivering when he felt Lia's tongue touch his, gently probing into his mouth as a little moan erupted from her throat.

"Lia," he gasped, pulling away just in time to see her eyes open, luminous and deep, dark grey once more, the low lights in the room just catching the silver flecks.

"My Prince," she said, laughing as she pulled him to her once more, kissing _him_ now with a fervor that left him completely breathless.

"Where do you put your eyes?" he heard Harry whisper probably to Ron, followed by a loud smack that was probably dealt from Hermione's strong hand.

"Prat," she whispered.

Severus felt laughter erupt from his throat as well as from Lia's, but still he couldn't stop kissing her.

"Do you remember?" he whispered against her lips when he broke away to catch his breath.

"Everything, my love," she whispered back. "I got myself back again."

"Good," he said, reluctantly sitting back on his heels and offering her his hand.

She stood, but wobbled so much he decided to scoop her up in his arms after all and carry her instead.

"I told you there'd be a happy ending," whispered Sybill to Hermione and Luna. "Ten of Cups."

"I'm auditing your class until I catch up on Divination," Hermione said, wiping her eyes as Severus walked towards them, his wife safely and happily in his arms.

 _A/N: Oh, don't think for a second this is the real ending … we still have about eight more chapters to go! But, the fluff is indeed over. Poo. Back to reality. Or, whatever reality is in my stories.  
_ _Back to figuring out what love looks like, and back to working towards the_ real _happy ending. Oh, there is one. Indeed!_

 _Dammit. I'm about to take a huge licking from my sweet beta. Put up the rough draft yet again. I love you C._


	14. Bed

Chapter 13 – Bed

They realized quickly that Lia wasn't well enough to Apparate or Floo back to Hogwarts. Even with a dose of the Wiggenweld Potion, she was dizzy and weak from the aftereffects of Narcissa's misunderstanding of how to dose the Draught. Just a few drops to the lips once would have been enough to keep her in stasis indefinitely, and Lia had been dosed with the drops every day.

Severus carefully set her down on the couch in the sitting room, close to the portrait of her mother.

"Oh, there's my sweet girl," said Sarah. "I've been waiting to meet you."

Lia smiled and said, "Mum told me she'd had you painted. I'm glad to finally meet you too."

"Will you be okay while I Floo St. Mungo's?" Severus asked.

Lia nodded. "I think I'll have some good company."

"You'd better believe you will," said Hermione as she walked into the room.

Lia smiled and gladly accepted the warm embrace from her friend. "It took a leap of faith, didn't it?"

"For us all, really," she replied, looking at Severus who'd just stuck his head into the emerald green fire. Hermione cocked her head to the side. "You sound different. I didn't realize it before, but you sound like one of us."

"I _am_ one of you, remember?" Lia giggled as she listened to the sound of her own voice again now that the glamour was gone. She touched her hair, feeling the waves still present rather than the massive curls from the past. "I guess not all of the glamours faded correctly."

"Are you upset? They can be lifted."

She shook her head. "It doen't matter, in the end. I'm just glad my memories are back – that's enough."

Hermione nodded and touched Lia's hair as well. "We thought she cut your hair off, actually, but here is still is."

"She did cut it off. She fixed it right before Severus walked in. 'Foliculus Repairo'." Her laughter stilled in her throat with the thought of Narcissa, but her mind came back to the immediate present when Neville, Luna, and Sybill walked into the room with them.

"Well, I think the three of us will be leaving," said Luna, hand in hand with Neville.

"You can all stay if you want," Lia said. "There are about ten guest rooms."

"That's kind of you, but Sybill wants to feed her cat and Neville is up for a good shag, which he won't do in a strange place," Luna said, rolling her eyes.

"Luna," said Neville, flushing furiously as he looked down at the marble floor.

Lia bit her lip to hide her smile. "Why don't you come by for tea soon? Okay?"

"Sounds marvelous, dear," Sybill said.

"Thank you all for helping him save me," Lia said. Tears began to sting her eyes, which she gratefully let run down her face.

"It's what we do," said Luna, nodding knowingly. "We've been doing stuff like this for a long time."

"Come here for a kiss and a hug, please," Lia said, hugging and giving each one of the three a kiss to the cheek.

"Bye, Lia," Neville said, flushing deeper as he waved, following Luna and Sybill out of the room.

"Where's Minerva? Is she with Ron and Harry?" Lia asked, taking Hermione's hand in hers and squeezing.

"They went to the Auror office to bring in a team to close the case and take Narcissa's body away," she answered, brushing a lock of red hair from Lia's forehead, her face suddenly very sad.

Lia's tears turned into sobs as she finally took in everything that had happened. She couldn't believe what Aunt Cissy had done to them – done to her. This was the woman who had been her playmate, her buddy, her second mother for almost nineteen years. They'd written each other every week while she was at school, up until the week before last task of the TriWizard Tournament, after which her whole world went to pot. She thought of Aunt Cissy's last letter, telling her how proud she was that she was going to come home to stay with Mum during her Apprenticeship and how she looked forward to seeing her more frequently again, as they did during the summers.

"Lia?" Severus asked. He grabbed her other hand, he held onto it before he gently took her back into his arms as her tears continued to fall.

"Why?" she asked, placing her weak arms around his neck and holding on as hard as she could.

"Vengeance, as misplaced as it was, took hold of her heart, Lia," Hermione said softly. "She was a good woman during the War, in her own way. She protected Draco as well as she could, and she even lied to He Who Must Not Be Named himself for reasons only she could explain, though she never did, in order to let Harry live."

"She was a more powerful witch than any of us realized," Severus said, rubbing her back softly. "And braver than we knew, before this. In a way, she thought she was doing this for you. To protect her family," he said, kissing her neck gently, not in a sexual way, but to give her comfort and reassurance with his presence.

"I could hear her," Lia said. "I heard what she said to you, Severus. It was terrible." She pulled her head back so that she could look into his fathomless, blank eyes, which she immediately saw becoming vague. "Oh, no, you can't pull that Occlumency shite with me, Severus. Where's my wand?"

His eyes flickered slightly as she patted down his arms trying to find it.

"Accio," she said, trying to draw it to her with all her might. She fell back against him with weakness when the surge of magic faltered at her fingertips, the energy to summon it from her completely wasting her.

"Maybe no magic until you get set to rights," he said, patting her back again.

"Where is it, Severus? I just want it back."

She felt him fumble to a pocket behind his back and press the small, slender ash wand into her hand.

"We couldn't find the other one," he said as he closed her fingers over it.

"Hello, old friend. I gave you to Professor Dumbledore," she said, looking down at it with a bemused expression.

"He saved it for you, all these years. It was in the safe behind his portrait, along with the pictures," he said softly.

She smiled, remembering the afternoon she spent with the man while Severus was Summoned to her grandfather's side. There had been tears then too, for both she and her _other_ grandfather so many times over, when she put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

And now he was gone too.

 _Gone, just like …_

"Severus," she said softly. "What did she mean about a baby?"

He went completely rigid against her but didn't speak.

"Tell me, Severus," she said, trying to make her voice sound strong.

"She," he said, swallowing thickly. "She put Poppy under the Imperious Curse and had her dose you with Fertility Potion all year and give Oliver Wood Amortentia in hopes that you would become a couple."

 _Merlin's wand._

"Okay," she said, willing her voice not to break. "So when you and I were together, we …?"

He nodded his head against her shoulder.

She let out a breath.

"And now there's not …" she started but couldn't finish, as she was afraid she would start crying, though she wasn't sure if what she felt was frustration, sadness, or fear – or all of them wrapped together into one insanely complex state of emotions.

"Stop," Hermione said.

Lia glanced back at her.

"She probably lied to get to Severus – Merlin knows all the other nasty things she said to him," Hermione said as she stood to her feet.

"How do you know what she said to me?" Severus asked.

"Because, as soon as we neutralized the potion downstairs and her luck ran out, I ran – well, waddled, I guess – up the stairs and eavesdropped with Jibby and Kreacher," she said proudly.

"Now that's a real Slytherin," Severus said smugly. "Rule 9. If you get caught, at least be proud of your actions."

"Wanker," Hermione said.

"Guys," Lia said faintly as she fell back against the couch with exhaustion.

"Right, sorry," Hermione said, pulling out her own wand and pointing it at Lia's abdomen. "Inveniet vitam."

They watched as her abdomen glowed brightly, the white light filling the room.

"Oh my gods," Lia said. She looked up at Severus, who looked back at her with a look that was both panic stricken and faintly … happy.

"Are you okay?" he asked, touching the softening light before it faded away.

She swallowed, her voice husky when she replied. "I don't know. I think I might be, given time."

"Me too," he said.

"Would the Draught have hurt anything?" Hermione asked, looking at Severus.

"Not the Draught itself, but I'm sure the way it has weakened her could create problems," he said.

A flash of green light announced that someone was about to arrive by use of the Floo.

"That will be St. Mungo's." He gave her half a smile before he stood up and walked to the fireplace to greet them.

"Will you stay with me, for a while?" Lia said to Hermione. "We have a library I think you would adore."

"I'd stay with you without it," Hermione said, backing away from the couch as two grey headed Healers came to the couch to start fussing.

Lia laid her head back, smiling as she turned her face against her husband's hand. She looked up at her mother's portrait, who gazed at her lovingly and winked.

Sighing, she shut her eyes as her body inexplicably moved into a deep sleep.

* * *

When she awoke, she was in the bed in her mother's suite, dressed in one of her old night gowns from when she was still a teenager. Daylight was just streaming through the windows. Stifling a yawn, she relaxed against the warm body behind her, sighing contentedly when a strong, pale arm circled around her and pulled her into a firm embrace.

The arm was still the palest shade of alabaster, and she realized it had more scars from nicks and cuts than it had when they first were married. It was a little broader too, and she was thankful that he'd finally started taking care of himself by eating a decent meal every now and then, though it was obvious that he had lost some of those needed pounds since she went missing.

The Dark Mark was different too, she realized. It was pale grey now, and so vague it could be mistaken for a large bruise if you didn't know what you were looking at. She of course did know, wriggling her shoulder as she thought of her own Mark.

Placing her arm over his, she let her mind wander as she pondered about trying to go back to sleep.

"Are you awake?" Severus asked, whispering in her ear.

She smiled and nodded, turning her head to look at him before she just rolled over completely.

He was shirtless now, though probably wearing the Muggle boxers she knew he preferred.

"You'd finally put on some weight, before," she said as she touched his chest.

He nodded. "You did too," he whispered conspiratorially.

"Hey," she said, slapping him lightly and laughing. "It's not polite to speak of a woman's weight."

"I wasn't complaining, was I?" As though to prove a point he lightly caressed her breasts, which were indeed much fuller than they had been when she was younger.

"I gained a little weight when I was pregnant, and I just never got around to losing it," she said, flushing deeply as his hand drifted to her hip and squeezed.

"I happen to approve, very much," he said.

She touched the scar on his shoulder, lightly tracing the claw marks with her fingers.

"When did this happen? You didn't tell me before."

"The night I killed Albus. I was attacked by a Hippogriff," he answered, wincing a little with the memory.

"He was a tricky man, Severus. He would have died a horrible, painful death – and what's more is that he knew it was going to happen long before he even put that stupid ring on," she said.

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She cupped his cheek with her hand. "Didn't you ever guess? He was a Seer too. Just not a very good one."

"You're serious?"

"Completely," she said, wanting to laugh but not able to just now. "He managed to block it with Occlumency, but not always, and not very well."

"I guess that explains a lot."

She nodded. "From what I've read and been told, it most definitely does." She eyed him carefully. "What did the Healers say last night?"

"Very, very light activity for a week, sleep all you want, and plenty of good food. I'm to help you get exercise in bed so you don't end up losing any strength."

"Exercise in bed? Sounds _awfully_ kinky," she said, winking at him as she stretched.

"Not that kind of exercise until they clear you," he said, pinching her lightly.

"What about the baby?"

He smiled tentatively. "Healthy as far as they can tell, which isn't much yet."

She rolled onto her back, letting her head fall back against the pillow as she cupped the area just above her pubic bone. When his hand covered hers, she turned her face back to his.

"I wanted his line to end with me," she said, lacing their fingers together.

"I've been thinking about that. His line did end with him, Lia," he said. "You are no more the new Heir of the Slytherin than I'm a potential new Head for Gryffindor. Your bogart is a snake, and you aren't a Parseltongue. You were ready to die rather than join him. And your mother did die, rather than give you to him." He paused, searching her eyes with his. "How did you feel when you were pregnant with Vanessa, not knowing who you were? Were you happy?"

She nodded and then groaned when she felt tears roll down her cheeks again.

 _Dammit._

"You can't erase your bloodline no more than I can erase mine. But, we won't let it rule us. I think we have to, if the cycle is ever going to break."

She smiled now and kissed him lightly as she wasn't sure how her breath was this morning, especially since she wasn't sure when the last time her teeth were actually cleaned.

"You're fine," he chuckled as he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her with so much passion she simply forgot anything else.


	15. Soap

_A/N: Ahoy! There be lemons ahead ..._

Chapter 14 – Soap

They finally parted sometime later. Lia couldn't say how long they had lain there, kissing and caressing each other until she was weak from something other than the Draught. Her sense of time was still rather distorted, which wasn't helping matters. When she looked back towards the window, the rays of the sun where brighter and hitting the rocking chair that still sat by the dressing table, which made her think it was probably around breakfast time.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, as though affirming her thoughts.

"It's been a while since you've eaten," Severus said as he rose from the bed. He _was_ wearing a pair of boxers – a rather short pair too.

She licked her lips as she looked at his legs and back when he turned around to walk to the bathroom, imagining the way his bum looked like underneath.

"See something you like?" he called from the door.

"Actually yes," she said, carefully getting out of the bed and following him after she decided she felt well enough to walk.

"Don't push yourself – I can bring what you need to you," he said as she grabbed onto a nearby chair to steady herself.

"Light activity is what you said," she replied, grabbing onto his arm as she wobbled through the door. Now out of breath, she sat down hard on the little chair in front of the vanity. "Walking to the bathroom is light activity, or it should be at least. I'm fine," she said as she held a hand behind her back, fingers crossed.

He smirked at her as she looked through the drawers to see if there was a spare toothbrush and tooth paste. She found a small box filled with toothbrushes and passed him one before helping herself. "Does toothpaste go over?" she asked as she found a tube that appeared to have been new. She squeezed it, or at least tried to. It was as hard as a rock.

"I guess so. Well, I guess we'll have to ask Jibby to – "

"Missus Lia," called a high, squeaky voice from the bedroom.

"In here," Lia said, laughing as Severus quickly grabbed her mother's rather dusty old dressing gown and put it on.

"Oh, my lady," the little elf squealed as she ran into Lia's waiting arms. "You was sick last night, and Jibby's been dying to sees you now that you is all yourself."

"I'm so happy to see you too, Jibby," Lia said, hugging the elf to her tightly and kissing the top of her head.

"Does you forgive Jibby for telling Miss Ciss about where you was when you was missing?"

"Of course I do," she said. "If you hadn't, I might not have ever been found you little dear."

Jibby's cheeks turned pink. "I guess Jibby didn't thinks about it that a'ways."

"Why did you call yourself Minny at the school?" Lia said. She thought she may know the answer but want to hear it from her little friend's own mouth.

The elf smiled. "Because I liked the Headmistress's name, so I calls myself after her."

Lia giggled. It _was_ as she suspected.

"But Jibby is Jibby, now that you is being back home. And Jibby wants to be home with you, if you wants me to stay with you."

"Of course I do," Lia said. "You raised me along with Mum. But come back to Hogwarts with me, when I go back. I'll see if you can just be with me and not have any other duties assigned. Would you like that?"

Great tears rolled from Jibby's huge eyes and onto her thin neck as she nodded. "Jibby doesn't want to leave Missus Lia again, now that you is finally her real Mistress."

"Me neither," Lia said.

"Does you and – " Jibby looked up at Severus in the very feminine dressing gown and frowned disapprovingly, which made Lia giggle.

"We need clothes and personal – "

Lia's giggle became a snort as Jibby cracked out of sight.

"Really, Severus, she took care of the Slytherin 7th year boys last term," she said, laughing harder as he wrapped the gown tighter around him.

"Excuse me for employing at least of modicum of decency," he replied.

She rolled her eyes just as Jibby cracked back into sight with two large bags.

"Jibby gots clothes for both of you in the closets, and here's your other things," Jibby said, huffing and puffing her breath as she passed the bags to Severus.

"Thank you sweetie," Lia said.

"Jibby will go and sees about some breakfast," she said, blowing Lia a kiss as she cracked out of the room.

Lia eyed Severus as he took the robe off and hung it back up. He passed her the bag that clearly had her things in it and she found some her toothpaste towards the bottom.

"You know, pink isn't really your color, Severus," she said quietly as she turned on the tap.

"Shut it, you cheeky woman," he said before he began to clean his teeth.

She shrugged and proceeded to do the same. When she looked back up into the mirror, she caught him watching her, and he quickly looked back down.

She rinsed her mouth. "What?"

He spit into the sink and laid his toothbrush aside thoughtfully. "I was just thinking about you being more like yourself again. You were shier before, when you weren't slapping me or telling me off at least."

"I was," she agreed. "Will you miss that? You seem to have gotten the worst end of this deal, in the end. You fell in love with two different woman, and now one of them is gone." She teared up again.

 _Goddammit._

When she'd been flickering around his rooms, watching him pace around the castle, and visiting him while he was half-asleep, she'd vaguely wondered who he might love more. It's not that Amelia Stanfield was so different from herself – she wasn't really. But she was a little more subdued and shy, and despite her hardships she managed to still look at the world with a wide-eyed innocence that Lia lost when she realized she'd have to hide away.

Amelia was her identity for almost half her life. Part of her longed for that innocence once more, and yet … as silly as it was if she could go through life without tripping again losing that innocence would be worth it.

No, that was a flip way to look at it. She was just glad to be her whole self again, to know who 'Sam' really was and be able to see Severus's face in her mind whenever she thought of the past, the real past, not the blurred memories that once filled her mind.

When Confunded, her memories of him had still been rather accurate. She knew him to be a snarky bastard who loved her beyond reason - a visiting Professor who stole her heart during a lecture in one of the classes she took in 'junior college', who'd gotten called to duty shortly after a whirlwind romance.

Blushing slightly as she did every time she thought about it, she had even remembered making love in the rain, though in her old confused thoughts it had been in the old gazebo behind her home, well hidden from the road.

Taking the handkerchief Severus offered her from his bag, she wiped her eyes.

"I must have embroidered a thousand of these for you when I was in the Room," she said as she put it down on the counter when she was done.

"I know," he said. "I seem to always be trying to give them back to you."

"Will you miss her?" she said a little wistfully.

"Who?"

"Amelia."

He kneeled down in front of her and took her hands in his. "'Amelia' was much like the Miss Selwyn I first met when you asked me to teach you Defense. Do you not realize that?"

"Maybe," she said, trying to hide a smile.

"I love _you_ , you daft little woman," he said. "You are, and always were, my twin flame. I didn't fall in love with two different people. I just got to lucky enough to fall in love with you twice."

She tried not to cry harder with his words, and instead chose to smile. "You really are the best husband ever," she sighed.

"I know," he said, raising an eyebrow at her mockingly. "You got very lucky."

"Git," she said, slapping his arm lightly.

"So I've been told," he said. He held out an arm to her to help her stand. "Shower?" he asked.

"I don't know if I can stand in there all by myself," she said, looking at the large stall, wondering if there was a bench in there she could sit on.

"Who said you'd be by yourself?"

 _Oh._

"Well, then I guess you'll have to put your dressing gown back on if Jibby's going to come in and – hey!" she teased, laughing as Severus started to grumble as he looked through his bag. He grabbed their toiletries and put them in the shower, and she could hear the hiss of water as he turned it on. His boxers came sailing over the glass doors. She eyed the bath tub in the corner, thinking maybe spending a little time in there might be better for her after all.

"Take off your gown and undergarments, Lia. I'm coming after you," he called out.

She complied as quickly as she could and jumped when the shower door opened.

Severus was nude, and his thin body glistened with water droplets. Steam filled the room as he walked out and offered her his arm. She bit her lip to keep from grinning as she took it.

Thankfully, there was a bench built into the wall of the marble monstrosity, and she sat down happily as he adjusted the knobs to spray on her.

"That's nice," she said, arching her back as piping hot water helped sooth her stiff muscles. Her hair grew heavy as at was soaked by the hot spray.

She smelled her lavender shampoo and sighed heavily when felt firm fingers work the solution into her hair. He remembered just how to handle it, though now he didn't have to worry about getting the curls screwed up or one of his fingers caught in a mass of tangles. She closed her eyes and hummed happily as his fingers dug in to her scalp, massaging her there and making her feel utterly relaxed. Then they were gone, and she whimpered a little in protest when they were replaced by the warm spray that cleansed away the suds.

More of the scent she loved so much returned, and she felt a soft flannel rub and clean the skin on her back and shoulders.

"You're going to spoil me rotten, Severus. I'll never want to take a shower without you again."

He chuckled darkly. "I don't think I'd complain about that," he murmured, as he moved his cloth-covered hand over her chest.

She opened her eyes and watched the expression on his face darken when he touched her breasts, though she had to bite her lip when he touched her nipples, which were already more sensitive than they had been before.

"Are they bigger still?" he asked, as he touched their sides and motioned for her to raise her arms.

She nodded. "It'll get worse before the end."

He didn't bother to hide his smile as he cleaned her arms.

"Typical," she said, laughing as she lowered them when he was done.

"I can't help if there are some things on your body that I just can't help but to appreciate the beauty of," he remarked idly as his hands returned to them.

She gasped with a little pain when he pinched a nipple teasingly.

"What's wrong?"

"It happened before, they just get sensitive. Be gentle," she said.

"I'll remember," he said, nodding to himself as he kneeled before her. He washed her stomach next, his hand lingering over her lower belly. "I never thought in a million years that this would happen for me," he said, his voice filled with both wonder and nerves, his expression mirroring his voice.

"I didn't either," she said. She put her hands on either side of his wet face, gently moving it to meet her eyes. "You know, I wanted to be a spinster for the rest of my life, until I met you again. In a way, I guess I got to fall in love with you twice as well."

"My beautiful, intelligent wife," he said.

She kissed him languidly, savoring the feel of his mouth against hers as she sucked on his bottom lip. His hand moved to her center now, and she moaned against him as the flannel rubbed her pleasurably.

"I thought I had to be cleared first," she said as she arched her back.

He sighed. "It won't go any further than that, I'm afraid. But I can dream," he whispered into her ear as he kissed it lightly.

She groaned, then pouted as his hands moved to her legs and feet.

"Tease," she said with irritation.

He merely shrugged and smirked up at her. "Think of what it'll be like with all the buildup."

"I might not be able to take it," she murmured as he rinsed her body of all the last traces of soap.

"Me neither," he said, sighing as he started to attend to himself, soaping up with his own very masculine sandalwood concoction.

Just the scent of it made her wet, and it had nothing to do with the sprays of water around them.

"Come here," she whispered.

His eyes flickered as he moved back towards her.

She took in the appearance of his thin, lean body. He was different now, his muscle no longer looked so hard won, and there was just the trace of softness to his abdomen. She twirled her finger, motioning for him to turn, which he did with a snort. That spot where his legs and backside met was still there, that beautiful little line that made her crazy with want. She traced it lightly with her fingernail, seeing him shiver in response. He turned back to face her and she saw with her own eyes how much he approved of that light exploration.

"You'll drive me mad," he said, in an amused but warning tone.

"But, it's just me who has to rest, right?" she asked.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you have in mind, pray tell?"

"Oh, just some 'light activity'," she said, grabbing his growing erection in her hand, biting her lip when he growled in approval. She stroked him firmly, squeezing as she moved her hand from the base to the head of his shaft.

A sound somewhere between a grunt and a groan escaped from his mouth, and he leaned over her, resting his hands above her head. She grinned as she licked him, traveling the same path that her hands did just before she took him in her mouth.

"Don't stop," he begged as she swirled her tongue around him. When she looked up and into his eyes, they reminded her of glowing coals of heat.

He still tasted the same as he did before. Even under the shower like this she could taste the flavor the flavor of his skin, which could only describe as completely male and belonging only to him, though she realized she'd never had a comparison, nor did she ever want to.

She couldn't take him very deep, not that she'd ever really been able to do that anyways; their time together before had been short, and he was so large it would haven taken practice that they hadn't time to be able to indulge in. But she remembered this, how he liked to be teased with long licks and sucking kisses, how to touch and stroke his thighs in such a way that brought his skin to goose flesh.

Appreciative sounds garbled out of his mouth as she gently tugged him while trying to take him in further.

"Don't ... hurt ... yourself ... _ohgoodheavensdontstop_."

She hummed to herself with the happiness of pleasing him, to feel close to him even if she wasn't able to do much more on her end. That would come.

 _And so would she._

Onwards she continued, until she knew she was getting tired but was too intent on making him come to stop. His body was already convulsing slightly, his voice haggard as he continued to encourage her further.

Finally, he tapped her shoulder. "Close," was what she thought he whispered, but the sound was too hoarse.

She kept going, feeling him twitch and swell in her mouth as he started to come, the salty heat pulsing into her throat. He cried out her name, which made her look up at him again as she swallowed. She was tired now, but glad she had done it if just to see the smile on his face and relaxation of his body in her hands, after what he'd been through trying to find her.

"Thank you," he said as he kissed her cheek.

"Most welcome," she whispered. After kissing his stomach, she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, smiling as she did so, though she peaked her eyes open every so often to catch a glimpse of him as he finished his shower.

"Do you want to stay in here while I shave?" he asked, and she murmured an affirmative response. She was tired, but relaxed as well and she didn't really want to move if she didn't have to just yet. She might have dozed a little, but the sound of him humming at the sink brought her back. He'd never hummed or sung before, in her presence at least. Perhaps it meant he was happy – she hoped it did.

The air was suddenly colder, and she realized the water was off. But then it didn't matter as she was wrapped in a warm towel as he carried her back out to the chair to dry her off.

"You'll make me rotten," she said as he slowly rubbed her skin until it was pink and dry.

"Good," he replied. He pressed a kiss to her lips this time before he pulled away. "Are you able to walk?"

She thought she could after stretching slightly.

"Let me give you the potions they left for you first," he said. He gathered three vials from a small bag on the table and handed them to her.

She raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

"They think you're a little anemic, so first is a Blood-Replinishing Potion, a Strengthening Solution, and a Vitamins Potion," he said. "And I did double check them myself. It's all safe."

She nodded and took them all, grimacing with the metallic flavor Blood-Replinisher.

"I can make you some that will taste better when I can get back to the dungeons. They want you to take it once a week for the rest of your pregnancy," he said, turning back to the bag and pilfering through it while he spoke.

 _That's odd._

She stood, grabbing onto the counter for support, and planted a kiss on his back as she walked past.

Walking to the closet with care, she opened the door to see what Jibby brought for her. Jibby brought her summer dresses, but didn't feel like putting them on. She wanted something loose that flowed around her, though she knew she couldn't wear a night gown all day. She spied one of her mother's light summer robes, which was very soft cotton and dyed a soft sea green she thought Severus would appreciate. A stack of her own undergarments and bras sat on one of the shelves, but she only grabbed a pair of silk knickers and ignored the bras until she could purchase one with a little more room.

After she dressed, she walked out to see Severus already dressed in his regular black, waiting for her.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking back in the closet. She saw a few empty hangers on the side with his clothes.

"Notice Me Not Charm, dear," he said with a wink. "You remember those, don't you?"

"I do." She said, giggling.

"I have something for you," he said. He removed her locket from his pocket and motioned for her to turn so that he could put it around her neck. She opened it and saw that the pictures had returned to normal, just her and her mother as they really appeared. The only one that remained the same was the one of the little white form that she'd loved so dearly.

After closing it with a small smile, she looked down at her hands and began to twist her wedding ring nervously.

"You looked beautiful," he said as he took her hand and lifted it to his mouth, kissing it before he twisted the ring with his own fingers. "I am bound to my beloved," he whispered, touching the Runes lightly.

She felt a little shy when she looked into his black eyes, but when she saw the coppery flames burning from within them she felt more calm than she'd felt in years.

"Still?" she asked softly.

"Always."

 _A/N: Maybe a little cheesy there, but it fit perfectly, so it is what it is._

 _It may be a few days before I update, though I will most assurdly. My ex is acting like a horse's arse, and it's directly effecting my kids. Part of me thinks that I'll actually post more with the added stress as it is a wonderful escape after their bedtime, but part of me also thinks I may escape with a huge glass of wine and my copy of Sense and Sensibility, watched for the 900_ _th_ _time. I guess we'll see who wins out, the Colonel or Severus._

 _As a gift, and since I've had a couple of questions as to "why the hair in the box?", I'll let you in on the inspiration, especially since the dastardly ex is part of the story and I feel like bashing him. After we initially separated, the first thing I did was cut my hair off, which is dark, strawberry blonde and was halfway down my back then. I'd always been instructed by him never to cut it or dye it. So, naturally, I had it all but buzzed off (there were clippers, and the end result was awesome and spiritual) and dyed it platinum. It was donated to a wig company that makes wigs for pediatric cancer patients. My hair dresser, who I'll call Truvie as in "Steel Magnolias" lol, made a joke when we boxed it up that we should mail the hair to said ex-husband with a picture of the new me. Truvie disliked him for many reasons, though one of the most irritating was that he always called her before my appointments to make sure she wouldn't do anything other than trim it. Anyways, that image stuck with me – the hair braided in the box. It was so cold and clinical, though it once was so warm and such a part of me. So, I gave it to Narcissa, but with a very different intent and twist. There you go. (Side note: I have since moved on from that act of independence, and it is again red and almost down to my shoulders once more, only because I love it that way)_

 _I'll slip in more bits like this as we wrap up. The story may go longer than I thought … I'm enjoying these two, way too much, and I'm adding more than I'm editing ..._


	16. Toast

Chapter 15 - Toast

Much to Lia's chagrin, or false chagrin really, as she was enjoying Severus's careful attention to her, he carried her down the stairs and into the dining room, where Hermione and Ron were already eating breakfast.

"I can walk to my chair, I promise," she said, swatting his arms lightly.

"I insist. You've had plenty of 'exercise' for now," he whispered lowly. Lia turned pink and glanced at Hermione, who was thankfully pretending that she hadn't heard a thing, though she had a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks too.

"Good morning," Ron said brightly, after helping himself to a huge plate of French toast.

Hermione shook her head when she saw him tuck into the plate. "He thinks he's eating for three now: him, me, and the baby," she said to Lia, rolling her eyes as she sat down across from her, having helped herself to a bowl of oatmeal and a banana.

They were only using a portion of the huge, formal dining room. The table was a long rectangle that was large enough to seat twenty, and had done so in the past when the Selwyn's had been a much larger number. Now, after the wars, Lia realized she was the only one left.

 _For now._

She smiled a little a rubbed her still flat belly. Looking up, she caught Severus's eye as he motioned to the small platters of food in front of him, and she tilted her head, indicating that she too would like some French toast. He nodded, and filled her plate.

"I thought only you and I did that," Hermione remarked, having watched the exchange with curiosity.

Lia laughed. "Now, now, you're still special too. He's the only other one. I promise." Severus sat a very modest plate of food in front of her, which she started to devour happily. She wasn't sure if she'd get sick this time; she really hadn't before other than a few mornings that were touch and go, but she decided it was best to enjoy having a good appetite now.

She looked up at Severus, who was originally just bringing a steaming cup of coffee back to the table. Doing her best not to glare at him, she eyed the lonely cup in his hand. When he caught her eye, he sighed and returned to the food to help himself to a breakfast similar to Hermione's. She smirked as she drank most of the glass of juice in front of her.

"It's not becoming to gloat," he said as he sat down next to her.

"You sound like Madame," she replied as she patted his arm, pretending not to watch over him as he started to eat. When she realized he was doing the same to her with quick glances out of the corner of his eye, she giggled.

"So you were in school with Fleur?" Ron asked, thankfully without a mouth full of food.

"I was," she said. "We didn't know each other too well, but we were friendly then. I hear she's your sister in law."

Ron nodded. "Nice girl too, now that we've all warmed up to her at least. She was a little snooty at first."

Hermione snorted. "Ginny called her Phlegm for the better part of a few years, and still does if she's in the right mindset."

Lia had to cover her mouth, as she'd just taken a bite of food, and laughed with the image of Ginny doing just that, and moreover why Fleur deserved it. "I think that may be the funniest thing I've heard in a while."

"Do you speak French?" Ron asked, now with a full mouth.

Lia grimaced. "Bien sûr, je parle français, vous cochon."

Severus laughed at that, and she enjoyed the dark, rich sound. "Sur place, ma femme absolument intelligente et belle," he said, winking at her.

"Oh, great, he does it too," Ron said, looking at Hermione.

Hermione looked at Lia thoughtfully. "You're so different with each other than you were. You were affectionate before, whether you realized it or not. It's nice to see you like this with each other – it's like it always should have been this way."

"It should have," Lia said. She touched Severus's arm gently and met his eyes. "We were just too stubborn before to appreciate fully what was in front of us, regardless of what was hidden. We lost a lot of time because of it. It's nice to be able to see him for who he really is, without the spell covering it all up." She squeezed his arm slightly. "Had you forgotten about the moth when you saw my butterfly this time, or did he make you forget about that, too?"

He shook his head, eyes flashing. "I didn't forget, nor was my memory about it altered. It had been almost thirty years since I'd seen it, in my mind at least" he said simply. "When I saw your Patronus, I was so shocked you could even cast one that I didn't think about it until later, and when I did I just refused to put it together as I had before."

"Maybe it wasn't a refusal, just more leftovers of the original Charm," Hermione said.

"Perhaps," he sighed.

"It explains some of your memories in the Pensieve," Hermione said, frowning as she went into deep thought. "You looked as shocked that the Patronus was the doe as Dumbledore did. Had he never seen it before?"

"No," Severus said. "He had never seen the doe. And I hadn't cast one in years, or so I was lead to believe. He decided it wasn't a very safe way for me to communicate with the Order or to him, and I hadn't the need to use to it to ward off any Dementors. I _was_ as shocked as he was – I don't know what I was expecting to see, but I knew that Lily's doe wasn't it. It felt … false," he said, his voice dimming a little at the end.

Lia leaned back against her chair, though she wanted to crawl into his lap like a cat and comfort him. As though he sensed it, which he probably did now that all the barriers that had kept them apart were gone, he scooted his chair next to hers and put an arm around her. She leaned against him, savoring his warmth. She was aware that she was tired – her stomach was full and the morning's activities may have caught up with her. The words passing between the other three soon became a gentle buzzing in her ears, like honey bees working on a spring day.

She quickly fell asleep, happy to be in the embrace of the man she loved.

* * *

"Have you told her?" asked Hermione, when she saw that Lia was asleep.

Severus sighed and shook his head. "I can scarcely believe it myself, Hermione. I don't want to shock her too much after what she's been through, especially when the Healers weren't positive."

"The shock of being pregnant I'm sure was enough. I don't think you'll be adding anymore to it by letting her know that she might carrying twins," she said.

"Let's give her a little while longer. She'll be upset enough when she finds out that St. Mungo's wants her to take the year off, in light of it and the events of the last week. Though, hopefully, she'll be glad to know that not having to repeat her schooling will reduce her Apprenticeship down to only two more years with Poppy, though she'll have to finish her Dark Arts training with me, since it's the only NEWT she was missing," he said, kissing Lia's forehead.

"I bet she'd like that," Ron said, standing up to get thirds.

"We'll see soon enough," Severus said. As much as their world was about to change, he wasn't exactly sure what she would think about the potential future that was going to be offered to her.

"How many …"

Severus looked up at Hermione's inquisitive look and chuckled.

"How many NEWTs did she get?" he finished.

Hermione flushed and nodded.

"Eight, all Outstanding."

"Holy mackerel," Ron said, his eyebrows raised high onto his forehead. "You only took seven, and didn't you get an E in one of yours?" he asked, looking at Hermione.

"Yes," she said tightly, looking at Severus with narrowed eyes. "Potions."

"Well, Slughorn was not the best professor then, nor was he ever, actually," Severus said, thinking of his own days as a student under the man. Horace didn't let students follow their intuition, which is why he'd started experimenting outside of class on his own time, with his own ideas about how Potions should really be prepared. Books only taught so much, a good teacher is should have filled in the gaps between the rudimentary knowledge and actually having an understanding of the subject. Whether they appreciated the difference or not, it was why he was a little more laissez faire with his students, letting them experiment under a watchful eye, but not letting them kill themselves.

"It would have been an O if you'd been back," she said.

He smirked. "You have very lofty opinions of your skills, don't you? Do you think you're that talented at the subtle art of brewing potions?"

"I did then," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I think I still do."

"Care to make a wager on how good your potions skills are?" he asked.

"I'd go in on that," Ron said, laughing.

"You're on," Hermione said.

"Very well. Five galleons says you still can't prepare a decent batch of Draught of Living Death."

Hermione gasped. "Why that one, after what happened to Lia?"

He stilled, then shrugged. "Because it's the only one you failed to produce on your NEWTs, which is why you got an E in the first place."

"And just how do you know that?" she asked.

He laughed softly. "Even if I wasn't at the school, I was helping to grade the work to stay busy."

"Well, we all failed that one, I think. Harry was the only person who ever made it right, and it was because he used your old book."

 _Ahhh, the book._ The one he'd left in the classroom in hopes that Draco would find it and use it. Draco did have the intuition to have become a Potion's Master himself, if he'd so desired, and Severus had tried to gently cultivate it in hopes that perhaps the boy would become his Apprentice so he could look over him properly and help guide him away from Lucius's path.

He had failed, miserably, in the end.

"When do you want me brew it?" she asked.

He brought his mind back to the present, Occluding the thoughts of Draco away. "When we get back to Hogwarts after term starts. There's no rush, and there are other things to attend to, just now."

"We'll have to settle it before Halloween, since this one is due just then," she said, patting her bump.

"What are you going to about your classes?"

"Minerva is going to take on the beginning to OWL classes again along with the NEWTs levels she still insists on teaching. Maybe one day she'll give in and let me teach all of it," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It'll only be until the children come back after Christmas since Ron is going to care for Rose during the day until we find a suitable nanny."

"I'll be a happy little house husband," Ron said jokingly, though he actually did look very happy about the arrangement.

"What about Muggle Studies?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Well, that is the bigger problem. It's just three classes for less than eight weeks before the hols, and we can't find anyone who wants to do it. And no one on staff, other than you at least, that has any experience with the Muggle world."

"And I haven't really been in that world in years, at least not enough to speak to it well," he said.

Lia snored softly and mumbled in her sleep.

 _But, we both know someone who does …_

Severus looked up at Hermione, who had an expression on her face that mirrored his own.

"It would make sense," he said.

"And she could use the experience with lecturing," she added.

"I'll talk to Minerva about it," Hermione said. She stood up and pushed in her chair. "But first I want to see this library Lia mentioned. Come with me, Ron?"

"Just my idea of fun," he muttered as he followed her out the room.

Severus looked down at Lia, and carefully brought her into his arms again. The surprised and happy sound of Hermione's squeal of contentment at the library door was audible even from the foot of the grand staircase.

He smirked when he heard Ron's loud groan as he carried Lia back up the stairs and into her mother's old suite.

 _I suppose it's ours now_.

That thought made him smile, just like it did when he thought about having a home with her at Hogwarts. As a Head of House, the suite of room he occupied could be altered at will for whatever needs that person had, similar to the Room of Requirement, though more permanent and not as temperamental. Up until this point he'd only wanted a home for his books and a place to sleep. But now there could be other uses for that luxury, and he was looking forward to seeing what she would want to do. He didn't care – if she wanted the rooms to be the mirror image of what she had in her present ones upstairs it would suit him just fine, as long as she lived in those rooms with him.

He laid her on the bed, debating whether or not he should undress her or just leave her be. She seemed to choose that for him, though, as she rolled over and nestled herself in the blankets on the bed. He took off his shoes and coat and slid in behind her, pulling her close to him once more.

Heat pooled into his groin when he felt that she had not worn a bra under the lightweight dress.

With a groan, he realized just how long this week was actually going to be.

 _A/N: Severus is winning for now as being my stress relief. That sounds a little pervy, doesn't it? Oh well.  
Fun factoid about writing this story: again, this relates to my divorce. I was required to attend therapy for a while. I got in a very bad way due to some things my ex did, and it was a good idea in the end. So I went to weekly sessions for almost a year before I got it knocked down to monthly check ins.  
If you've read 'Healing Waters' you know I had the terrible experience of having a relationship end (well, explode) because of a secret my husband held from the very beginning, and I won't go into it here. My therapist once told me that I was like Sleeping Beauty who woke up as Alice on the other side of the looking glass. That statement stayed with me, mostly because it was so spot on. When I discovered fan fiction, I decided that it would be an interesting scenario to use in a story, and this plot started to come to me - especially since my therapist, who I'll call M, was encouraging me at every visit to write again - though I'm sure she was thinking it would be the sad poetry I wrote in the 90s.  
So, M, this story is for you really. Thank you for helping me get back to the right side of Wonderland._


	17. Weak

Chapter 16 – Weak

Lia decided early on that this week was never going to end.

On the first day, when she woke up from her after, or rather, her mid-breakfast nap, and felt Severus curled up around her with his hands cupped lovingly around her body with his hard erection against her back, she almost woke him so that he could Floo St. Mungo's immediately to see if there was a way to make her strength return more quickly.

There wasn't a way, and she knew somewhere in her mind that not even in the Muggle world, with their medicine there that she knew far better than the Wizard's remedies, would she be able to heal as quickly as she would like after having been in Potion induced coma for over a week. Time and rest would be her best friends in the process of getting well.

It was one of the things she liked about the Healers – they seemed to so much better understand that rest was genuinely beneficial to health, whereas Muggles moved and moved and moved, even when sick and in pain, well too fast for their bodies to ever have a chance to change back to a state of wellness.

And she had to move back to a state of good health as quickly and carefully as she could. When the hand that curled around her hip skimmed across the skin just below her navel, reminding her of what was at stake, she gave in to the rest that was prescribed once more.

* * *

Severus didn't make it easy for her though, as genuine as his intentions were.

He refused to let her out of his sight now. Even though his attentions were greatly appreciated and even relished, when he bathed with her the next day in the huge corner bath, she had to tolerate the blissful sensation of having his lithe, wet body within inches of her own as well as the agony not be able to do anything about satisfying either of their desires.

She would have pounced upon him immediately, if only she'd had the energy to do so.

She could feel her strength returning to her with each day that passed, but it just was not coming back as quickly as she'd hoped it would. The potions helped, but she wanted them to work today, not a week from now. It didn't help matters that she was a terrible patient – had been told that many times by the few friends she had back in America.

 _Back home._

"But you are home," Severus told her, later that day after dinner, when she confided the odd mix of emotions she had about her other home, for it _was_ her home for thirteen years, outside of New Orleans.

"I know I am," she said. "But home is there, too. We should go there, for a visit, before the students come back. It belongs to both of us, really, and you've never seen in properly."

"Perhaps we should. I've wanted to add lectures about Voodoo to the curriculum, and there's no time like the present," he mused. She could see the wheels turning behind his black eyes as he began to plan. The familiar sight made her smile, as did the idea of seeing the beautiful bayous and the gulf again – and this time being able to share it fully with him.

* * *

By the third day, she was able to walk from the bed to the bathroom without having to stop for a break, though she was out of breath by the time she sat down at the vanity and looked in the mirror.

It was the first time she'd given her new appearance more than a cursory glance since she woke up, and now she decided it was time to examine herself more closely.

Her eyes were back to the customary Black silvery grey, which was something she had guessed when she first opened her eyes and saw them reflected in Severus's own dark gaze – the aqua blue reflection was no longer there.

They almost seemed like the eyes of a stranger.

She knew her skin was back to the pallor that almost mirrored Severus's own whenever she looked at her hands and body while getting dressed. As she studied her face giggled when she saw the freckles that still dotted her nose and cheeks. Her mole had not returned, though, and her nose was tiny again, flicking up at the end just like Narcissa's, and her mother's, once did.

 _Narcissa …_

With a heavy sigh, she leaned back in the vanity chair and thought about Godmother.

She would never be able to understand the hate that must have fueled her existence for the last decade. It could have been so different, if only she'd had an outlet for her grief other than cultivating a malicious hatred for the wrong man. The Dark Lord was to blame for her losses, not Severus. If only she'd seen a Healer, or talked to someone about her thoughts instead of hiding away and letting the hate grow and bloom into something so atrocious.

Her breath caught in her throat as she thought of the look on Narcissa's face just before Severus walked in the door, before he even knocked. The way she looked at her face just after she cast the spell that fixed her hair back to its former glory had unsettled her, even in the Astral state where she felt so much peace.

It was the look of love that she had seen so many times before in this very house, cracked with insanity of a kind she never wished to see again.

She tried to stifle the sob collecting in her throat.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked, knocking lightly on the open door.

Looking up, she nodded and tried to smile, though she found that she couldn't just now.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked. He walked in and leaned against the counter top, his lips in a flat line of questioning concern.

"Aunt Cissy," she said.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked at her hands, suddenly becoming very interested in the little sprays of freckles that bloomed delicately on.

"Lia?" he asked. He kneeled before her, taking her hands in his so that she could no longer look at them without seeing their fingers entwined together. His eyes were blacker than black when she finally looked up to meet his gaze.

"I just miss her, Severus. But I miss who she was when I was younger. She changed into a creature I barely recognized, except for the display of what she felt to be love. She always had love, before. Especially for me, and mum." She paused, trying not to cry and succeeding this time, though her breaths came and went with great tremors that wracked her body like great sobs. "I can't believe she blamed every bad thing that happened on you."

"I can," he said softly, now having become very interesting in Lia's hands as well, taking time to measure how small they were in comparison to his. "They weren't thoughts that I hadn't heard in my own head, at one point or another. It wasn't pleasant to hear someone else speak them out loud, though I knew them not to be true, for the most part."

"What did you think was true?"

He kept his head down when he brokenly one singular word.

"Draco."

"Oh, my darling," she said, pulling him close to her.

He rested his head in her lap as she stroked his hair and face, rocking her body slowly with hers as she tried to think of what to say, before she realized there was nothing she could say that could take his pain away.

"Have I told you I love you today?" he asked, his voice muffled a little in her dressing gown.

He had, but she loved hearing it.

"Tell me again," she said.

"I love you, my gorgeous girl," he said, looking up at her now and stroking her hands.

"I love you too, my Prince."

"Speaking of that," he said, smiling through the pain in his voice. He stood and kissed the top of her head before he walked back into the bedroom.

 _Our bedroom._

The thought made her a little giddy, even with the grief. After all this time, this would be the first place they would call home together beyond Hogwarts – beyond that little Room that had been their first home.

He returned quickly, holding a very small black box in his hand as he walked back through the door. He couldn't seem to restrain the smile on his lips now as he dropped to one knee in front of her, wincing from an old hex injury she remembered that he received that summer after the Dark Lord returned.

"I have wanted you to wear this since we first said those words to each other," he said as he opened the box, revealing a ring unlike anything Lia had ever seen.

It was an old family ring, much older looking than the Black ring her mother had worn. Cast from what appeared to be Goblin made silver, the face of the ring looped into swirls that resembled several large letter 'S's. The intricate design was studded with small emeralds throughout. It was so large and ornate it would reach almost to her knuckle with the room needed for her wedding ring. It wasn't as much an engagement ring as it was a stamp of being the bride of a Prince.

As perhaps it should be.

She'd wanted the world to know of their love since the day she realized it herself, at the Yule Ball when she saw him watching her dance with George. The look on his face had been envious, as well as a little wistful and full of longing. That was when she realized he might feel the same way for her as well, and she'd broken things off with George that night in hopes that it was true.

When they danced together, later, and she felt her body fit against his with ease she knew at last that he was the only man in the world that she ever wanted to dance with again.

He took her left hand now and slipped the heavy ring onto her finger, looking satisfied when it adjusted itself to fit perfectly behind her wedding band.

"Your mother's ring?" she asked, staring down at it with pride.

"Her family's ring, yes," he said, rubbing over it with his thumb. "I am the last Prince on this earth, even though a half-blood."

"You won't be anymore," she said. Guiding his hand to her stomach, she sighed contentedly when he rubbed his warm hand there so softly that it might have been a dream.

When he untied her robe and lifted her gown to her waist, she looked up nervously – as much as she wanted him she also wanted to follow the Healers' instructions. But his eyes - his calm black eyes - soothed her as he shook his head before he dropped a kiss to the space where their child was steadily growing.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

"Obviously," he said, his voice so resolute she didn't dare to question it. "Are you?"

"Absolutely," she said, realizing it was the truth as the words came out of her mouth with no thought to the contrary.

He kissed her abdomen one more time before he lowered her gown and tied her robe again. "What would you like to do today?" he asked, giving her his hand to help her stand.

Taking it, she asked, "Would you read to me?"

"Muggle poetry?" he asked.

She smiled. "Let's go see if my mother had to foresight to put some volumes in the library."

He turned to walk with her to the door, but she stopped him with a tug of her hand.

"Thank you, Severus, for this," she said, looking at his ring. She stood, then lifted herself on her toes. "Bend down," she said, giggling as their lips met.

"It was meant for you," he said when they parted. "I can't imagine ever having been on another woman's finger."

"The 'S' is for Slytherin, I take it?" she asked cheekily.

"What else?" he asked as he picked her up and carried her out of the room.

* * *

 _A/N: The ring … go to jamesavery dot com and look for the Open Sorrento ring in silver. I have a slight love (obsession) of/with jewelry. When I saw that ring I told the sales girl, "It's a bunch of S's for Slytherin!", to which she gave me a very confused look, but took my money when I bought it all the same. The "Song of Solomon" ring on the same website is what I imagine their wedding bands to look like, too, as it awful dang close to what Severus and Lia's rings are engraved with.  
Have you wondered yet who they originally belonged to? We'll find out before the end._


	18. Strength

Chapter 17 – Strength

She punched him repeatedly while he gently tried to keep her from doing any actual damage.

"Twins?!" she screamed. "You knew about this, and you didn't tell me?"

Healer Judith smothered a laugh with a well-executed cough as she watched her country's most powerful wizard be pummeled by the small hands of his sweet little wife, who by rights was extremely upset by his week-long omission.

"Technically we weren't sure until today, Lia. It was only a suspicion when we examined you last week," she said, trying to keep Severus from the enduring more of Lia's anger.

"Does it matter?" Lia said, giving his arm one last punch before giving up and sitting back down in her chair, invigorated by her efforts instead of exhausted.

The week had made all the difference, despite that in the beginning she couldn't imagine feeling so fit in such a short period of time. She was back to form, thanks to the Potions Severus gave her, Jibby's good food, and Hermione's sweet mothering. Yesterday the group had walked around the grounds to her favorite spot in the woods – a meadow where she, her mother, and Aunt Cissy had once loved to picnic. When Jibby brought a lunch to their side, just like she had in previous years, Lia thought life couldn't get more perfect.

Until now. Pregnant with twins … and on a yearlong sabbatical thanks to the Healers opinions on rest and bedrest on a body.

She groaned.

In Muggle America she'd be back in school next week. Had been, after Vanessa was stillborn after being born so early.

"I'm sorry," Severus said, grabbing her hand in his and squeezing.

"I know," she sighed. She looked into his dark eyes with a plea. "No more secrets, even if you think it will hurt me."

"No more secrets," he agreed, kissing her forehead.

"The good news, if you would like to hear it, is that you are restored to health," Judith said, smirking as she made some notes with her quill. "You can resume activities as normal. Just remember to take care of yourself, take your Potions as prescribed, and drink plenty of fluids."

"I can do that," Lia said, settling into the crook of Severus's arm. She had never been able to stay mad at him for too long.

"And your job is to make sure she does it," Judith said, pointing her quill at Severus.

"I think I can manage that, thanks," he sneered nastily.

* * *

They returned to Selwyn Manor, which was now sadly empty. Ron and Hermione needed to return to Birdsong to attend one of their nephew's birthdays, and the house now seemed too silent without the sounds of their voices arguing playfully.

"What would you like to do?" Severus asked, unable to hide the hope in his voice. They were at the foot of the grand staircase.

"Not what you'd think I'd want to do just now," Lia said. "I want to go to my old bedroom."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

She shrugged.

"No," she admitted. "But, it's time I think. It's not like she's still there, is it?"

"No," he said, taking her hand as they climbed the staircase together. They walked to the white door painted with lavender sprigs and her first name, and opened it to the staircase that led to her room. She held his hand tighter as they walked to the top of the stairs.

The door was already ajar. She opened it the rest of the way so that she could look in.

It was the same room she'd lived in since they first came to the Manor when she was a little girl.

And yet …

When they walked past the pictures, she saw the faces smiling back at her – especially Narcissa's once happy, carefree face – she felt herself gather all the strength within her so that she could endure looking at the last spot that the woman had lived.

Lia knelt down and put her hand to the floor where she remembered seeing her still form lie. She'd assumed she would cry, she'd prepared herself for it with every step they'd taken up the stairs since their return to the Manor.

And yet …

There were no tears, not anymore. There was sadness, and pity too. But no overwhelming despair for losing her second mother. She hoped that if the fates were kind, even to those who lost their way, that Narcissa was united with Lucius, her mother, and the rest of their family again on the other side of the veil.

The thought made her smile wistfully.

She felt him kneel next to her and place a warm hand on her back. He didn't say a word – he didn't need to. He was just there, offering her whatever she needed from him, as he always had.

* * *

They returned to their room sometime later, after she had retrieved some clothes she thought might still fit and be fashionable, as well as an item from her hope chest that she'd forgotten about until she started looking through her closet while Severus had perused her books.

"I'm just going to go freshen up," she said softly as Severus removed his coat.

"Don't take too long," he said, kissing her neck before she walked into the bathroom.

Lia shivered as she shut the door. She hung the dresses and skirts on the hook behind it, and looked down at the folded lace in her hands.

It had been part of her bridal trousseau, made years ago over the summer before her last year at Beauxbatons. Of course, her mother had insisted that they go ahead and make it, even though Lia had pointed out that there was no perspective suitor and that there was no way would she marry before the end of her Apprenticeship at St. Mungo's. Sarah had surely long sensed the outcome of the year, even if she'd been unable and unwilling to change its course, as was the curse of a Seer.

She unfolded the gown, turning pink when she remembered buying the fabric with her mother in Diagon Alley. She'd turned a brighter shade of pink that day when she'd seen how sheer and light the lace was – it was completely see through even when placed against her very fair skin. Her mother had laughed and said something about even dark men having a weakness for lighter things. Lia laughed now at how right she'd been, thinking of his hands touching her through her red dress naught a fortnight ago, and how his hands that had reluctantly picked up a different white gown that she'd torn from her body the night they made love in the storm.

Lia removed her robes and the blue dress underneath, then her knickers as she still hadn't been able to go to Madam Malkin's to buy new bras. She put on the gown. Even though it would only be removed in the few minutes, she knew she'd enjoy the expression on his face when he saw her walk out in this beautiful nightdress that left nothing to the imagination and was only held in place by a single button just south of her navel. It was a gown that was _meant_ to be removed.

After brushing out her long hair and putting it up in a chignon, she cleaned her teeth for good measure before taking a deep breath and opening the door.

He'd decided to surprise her too, she realized with a little grin. He had turned down the bed and was sitting in the middle, completely naked and extremely pleased to see her if the grin on his face and the erection between his legs were any indication. His breath audibly caught in his throat when she walked into the light, and she knew he could see straight through the material.

"Where on Earth did you buy that?" he said, swallowing.

"Mum and I made it the summer I turned eighteen," she said as she removed her earrings and placed them on the chest by the bathroom door.

"It should be," he said, swallowing again, which made her giggle in her head, "illegal."

She shrugged, pretending to be unconcerned.

"Who knows, in some parts of the world it probably is," she said as she slipped into the bed next to him.

His hands went to her breasts, gently squeezing them through the fabric before dipping them inside the non-existent neckline. She moaned at the contact of his bare hands against her skin.

"Was this to be part of your trousseau for your wedding night?" he asked as he unbuttoned the lone pearly white button, shifting the material to that he could explore every inch of her body without anything blocking his path.

She nodded and placed her hands over his and they roamed over her skin as though he'd never touched her before.

"It's good that it finally was able to be put to use," he murmured as he kissed her softly.

"Yes," she whispered, pulling his head to hers to increase the contact of his lips and hopefully deepen the kiss. When his tongue slid into her mouth, she groaned at the realization that they were at home once again.

It all happened more quickly than they would have liked, but they would take their time later, drawing out each other's pleasure after the immediate need to be joined had finally passed. This was about need, and love, and desire that had built not only for the fortnight they'd been separated, but for the fourteen years their souls had longed for each other while they'd been separated by the machinations of her grandfathers.

He pulled her legs up as high as she could bend them, almost to her breasts before spread her legs wide, leaving her feeling very exposed and open to him before he kneeled before her and slid in. The pressure and sensation were overwhelming – she'd never felt so close to another human being in her life than she felt to Severus as he slowly thrust into her.

"I missed you," she moaned as the pressure built deep in pit of belly every time their hips met.

He could only nod and grunt his agreement, the strain of him waiting for her to come was evident in his tense face with each thrust of their bodies together. She reached down and touched her clit, tapping it in time with his deep thrusts. The extra stimulation was what she needed, and she shuddered in his arms, moaning out the depth of her pleasure.

Severus came shortly thereafter, trying not to collapse on her after the bursts of warmth left his body, finding a home deep within her.

"Good … love," she whispered as he pulled her against him.

"Love … yes," he panted, kissing the top of her head as they came down from the high of making love to the person their heart completely belonged to.

* * *

 _A/N: *Sigh* About 2-3 more chapters to go, I think. They're ready for their story to be done, and I'm listening for a change._


	19. Perspectives, Part 3

**_August_**

The last house on the end of the gravel road was once again occupied, if not briefly, by Lia and her long lost and thought dead husband – a Mr. Sam Stanfield. Her few friends, who had long missed her in her absence to work at the mysterious school in Scotland, were thrilled to finally meet the man they had so heard about so frequently over the years. They had never seen such a smile on her face, or such sense of peace about her – and even Kristin Arnold knew she could finally stop worrying about her.

They kept to themselves, mostly, in the two weeks they spent at the home her grandfather had given them as a gift, that they could finally occupy as a couple. Her glamours held well – they'd been cast by Severus before they left – and no one there suspected a thing was different about her except for the serene glow on her face.

Before she bid her goodbyes again, promising they would return next summer after the babies were born, Severus decided to make one of her false memories real. During a brief afternoon downpour, he pulled her out to the gazebo by the lake, and made love to her in the rain. It wasn't the frantic coupling as it had been before in the Tower, though he did accidentally rip her wet shirt in his impatience to remove it from her body. It was slow and languid, and when Lia came and saw the setting Louisiana sun in Severus's eyes, she knew she'd never been happier to be home.

 ** _September_**

Severus stared at his wife, the newly christened Professor Snape, and sneered.

"What on earth are you so afraid of?" he asked, trying not to sound too vicious.

Lia sat on her old comfy sofa that now sat in his rooms, their rooms now, in the dungeon. Her head was between her knees, and her breathing was so rapid that he was afraid that we was going to have to call Poppy or give her Draught of Peace himself so that she could make it through her first day of class, as Hermione had decided she might as well teach the class from the start until she returned from her maternity leave next year.

But when she looked up, he realized that what he was seeing was not her fear, but her trying to conceal a fit of nervous laughter.

"Severus," she said, covering her smiling, giggling mouth with her hand. "Do you realize that in whatever hell the Dark Lord is in, that he is probably howling with rage over the fact that his heir is teaching Muggle Studies?"

She fell down onto the couch, now letting the laughter take her over completely as she beat the arm of the sofa with one hand and held her belly with the other.

Severus's sneer turned into a soft smile as he saw how pretty she looked for her first day of school. Gone were the completely ridiculous MediWitch robes, for this year at least. Today, she was dressed in soft green robes that fell to the floor and covered the already rounding swell of her stomach. Her hair was down, flowing in reddish gold waves to her lower back. With the color from her laughter making her face flushed and pink, he thought she almost looked as beautiful as she did the night they were married and the day they got their official license from the Ministry last week, wearing the same grey robes from before.

And so, for the first time on the first day of classes, Severus Snape laughed, in complete agreement with her previous assessment and in gratitude for his hard won happiness.

 ** _October_**

Hermione and Lia peered into the bubbling cauldron in front of them, both stricken.

She hadn't helped Hermione at all with the preparations to make Draught of Living Death, as instructed by Severus, though it pained her immensely when she could not correct the one mistake that would surely make the potion useless.

"And what to we have here?" Severus asked, looking at the potion with disgust. He poured a little into a crystal vial and examined in thoroughly, even rubbing the liquid between his fingers before moving to a sink to scrub his hands clean.

"How bad is it, Severus?" Hermione asked, wincing.

"Well, sufficed to say, you owe me five galleons," Severus said, though disappointment laced his deep voice.

"Dammit," Hermione and Lia said at the same time. They glanced up and smiled at each other when they realized they'd spoken in unison.

"Don't let her foul mouth rub off on you," Severus said to Hermione, still examining the Draught.

"Git," the women both muttered again.

He looked up and frowned at both of them in turn before frowning heavily at the cauldron.

"What," Hermione asked.

"You made it well, but yet it's still off," he said, sniffing the steam again – very puzzled. "When did you add the valerian root?"

"After the belladonna, just before sloth brain," Hermione said.

"That's wrong, it's added _before_ the belladonna – that's why it's so … " he said, using a stirrer now to examine it. "Well, you may have come up with a new Potion of your own, my girl. I think if someone imbibed this they would just walk around in a stupor for the rest … of … "

Lia's heart fluttered in her chest and her breath caught in her throat.

"Lia," he said, putting the stirrer down. "Do you have any more classes today?"

"No, my love," she said smiling.

"Hermione, can you ask my Apprentices to cover my remaining classes?"

"Yes, Severus – but why? What did I do?"

For the first time in the almost twenty years they'd known each other, Severus bent down and kissed the top of Hermione's head and almost beamed, though Lia caught the glint of an unshed tear in his eye.

"You made the perfect mistake," he said as he patted her shoulder. "And Lia and I are going to St. Mungo's."

"Whatever for?" Hermione asked as she waddled with them to their rooms, to the fireplace that had been given special permissions to be connected to the waiting room of the Wizard's hospital.

"He's figured out what happened to Draco, darling," Lia said as they watched the fire turn as green as the Slytherin house color. "And we're going to go wake him up."

 ** _November_**

Ron and Severus, along with Molly and Arthur waited in the tea room of St. Mungo's.

Hermione had been a week late, and in the end had to be given a potion to help get the process of her labor started. Lia was in the room with her, coaching her through the process as she had done with a number of Muggle women, since Hermione had threatened to curse Ron's bollocks off if he walked into the room after the labor pains began.

Severus got up and paced around the tables, unable to shake off the small pains he felt through his body that he knew corresponded with hers. That stupid, lifesaving bond even linked them with this – a thought that made him shudder a little as the next light wave of pain began.

"Do you think she's okay in there, Mum?" Ron asked, looking very dejected about not being in there himself.

"I know she is," Molly said, nodding confidently. "I kicked your father out when Bill was born and asked for my mother instead. It's not that uncommon."

Ron nodded, but didn't look any happier than he had before.

They all looked up when a very tired looking Lia walked in. Severus rushed to her and let her slump against him as she let out a deep but happy breath of relief.

"Get down there, Ron – she's here!" Lia said motioning him and the elder Weasley's to the stairs.

Three very bright red heads dashed past them.

Severus made Lia sit down and poured her a cup of tea from the dainty little pot at their table, passing her a plate of cream buns that she grabbed two from.

"Are they alright?" he asked, scooting his chair closer to hers so that she could lean against him once more.

She sighed as she did so and replied, "They are both perfect. Rose Cordelia Weasley, eight pounds eleven ounces."

Severus felt a little dust creep into his eyes – it was the only explanation for why his vision suddenly became a little blurry.

"A fine name," he managed to say.

Lia nodded.

"A very fine name," she said as she looked up at him and squinted. "Now, don't get all sentimental on me, dear. Though … she did ask for you when it was all over instead of Ron."

The blurriness got worse and he had to wipe his eyes from it.

"What are you going to be like when our babies are born?" she asked, mystified by his response. She sat down her tea and put her arms around him.

Severus could only shrug as he buried his nose in his wife's fragrant hair.

"Do you want to go see them?" Lia asked.

He nodded against her.

"Let's go see the most beautiful baby on the face of the earth, Grandfather," Lia said as she stood up.

Severus didn't mean to swat her arse so hard, but the little squeal of surprise was worth it.

 ** _December_**

"I am not spending Christmas with Harry Potter," Severus said, folding his arms over his chest and looking very certain of himself.

"Oh, I think you are," Lia replied as she put the final pin in her hair. She rested her hand against the now very large swell of her stomach and sighed as she felt four very distinct feet move around rapidly.

"Are they awake?" Severus asked as he sat down next to her on the bench and placed his hands next to hers.

The secret, sweet smile on his face made Lia sigh happily. She placed her hands over his and rested her cheek on his shoulder as the little girls within her continued to kick away.

"Hermione will be there, and Rose," she said softly.

He grunted a small protest in response.

"And me, and … these," she added as she squeezed her hands over his.

He sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. At her incessant prodding, he was growing it back out a little.

"Fine," he said.

"Good," she giggled as she stood up and looked in the mirror. The maternity robes succeeded in making her look like a huge green blimp, but she decided that she was otherwise content with her appearance.

"Is it true they're planning on naming this one after Albus and me?" he asked, grabbing her shoulder lightly and turning her around.

Lia avoided his eyes until his hands went to her face, moving her gaze directly at him.

"It might be," she said, grimacing and closing her eyes in the expectation of a tirade.

She didn't get one. When she opened her eyes again curiously, she saw Severus looking at his hands, twisting his wedding ring in the same manner that as she often did. She wondered if her grandparents had done the same thing while wearing these same rings whenever they were worried. The thought made her smile as she looked back up to her husband.

"Albus would have liked that," he said absently.

"What about you?"

He shrugged.

"Potter never has cared much for my opinion on things," he answered evenly. Too evenly.

Lia grabbed his hands in hers to still them.

"He cares now, since you _are_ technically his cousin," she said with a sly smile.

Severus sneered and rolled his eyes.

"Please don't remind me of that again, Lia."

 ** _March_**

They were back at St. Mungo's once again, except this time the group in the tea room was comprised of Hermione, Ron, and little Rose, as well as Harry, a heavily pregnant Ginny, Poppy Pomphrey, and Luna.

Hermione sighed and snuggled the sleeping Rose against her. She was trying very hard not to worry, but it had been over thirteen hours. True, not all babies were born as fast as Rose had been, and Lia was carrying twins, but she felt like they should have known something by now. She wondered if anyone else was having the same thoughts she was, but they all seemed more concerned with the Pumpkin Pasties and Earl Grey that the little waitress kept supplying them with.

The link between herself and Severus, and in turn Lia, was stronger than ever. A new part of her now worried that her worry was coming from their worry … the thoughts made her head spin and ache. Grabbing a Pastie, she decided to try to clear her thoughts and just enjoy the company of her friends while they waited.

The door burst open as suddenly as Severus normally opened the door to his Potions classroom, an effort he still used to intimidate his students. He strode to Hermione's side and took her free arm.

"Give Ron the baby," he said, letting her give the sleeping infant to Ron – who looked up with a look of concern in his eyes that mirrored Hermione's previous thoughts.

Hermione nodded at Ron and tried not to cry as she was led down the flights of steps to the maternity unit.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly as Severus guided her to Lia's room.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his face confused.

"Of course I am," she said, taking a deep breath. "What about Lia and the babies?"

Severus smiled happily, more happily than Hermione had ever seen him look. She realized now what Lia must have seen in him when they first met, and then when they met again. Apparently when he was happy, he looked years younger, and even handsome as it softened his angular features.

"Why don't you see for yourself," he said, opening the door for her.

Hermione rushed in and saw Lia setting up on the bed with a baby attached to each breast, eating noisily. She was smiling so serenely that it almost took Hermione's breath away.

"She look like an –"

"Angel," Severus finished, nodding as he wiped his eyes.

"Dust?" Hermione asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"House points?" he said, sneering a little through his happy tears.

She shook her head and walked to the bed, finally catching Lia's attention.

"Hey," Hermione said as she sat in the waiting chair.

"Hey," Lia said, smiling brighter now. She nodded down to the babies cradled against her. Their auburn hair was very bright against their ivory pale skin, and Hermione saw that even now, they both had midnight black eyes, just like their father.

"Hello, little ones. I'm your Aunt Hermione," she said, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

"Aunt Hermione, meet Eileen Lillian Snape," Lia said, nodding to the baby on her right, "and Sarah Jean Snape," she finished, motioning to the baby on her left.

Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she felt Severus's hand on her shoulder.

"We wanted you to be the first to meet them," he said, squeezing her shoulder tightly as she burst into tears.

* * *

Severus looked down at the frizzy haired witch he'd come to love like his own child, knowing the day had come to finally tell her just how much she meant to him.

He'd have to tell Draco that too, he supposed, when he went to visit him in his room that was now on the third floor. Draco would be released soon, probably within the next month if he continued to progress as well as he had since he woke up on Halloween. They never did find out who gave him the faulty Draught, though they all suspected Narcissa was to blame – wanting him to sleep instead of live a half-life as the child of a War criminal. Severus secretly hoped that one of his former students who had a Potion shop off the French Quarter would take him on as an Apprentice when he was well. Astoria Greengrass had been sweet on Draco in school, if he remembered correctly. And it would put their house outside of the city to good use instead of standing empty …

He let his gaze travel to the smiling woman lying on the bed, and the babies in her arms, thanking whoever worked out destinies and fates of the people on this Earth for finally getting his just right.

* * *

 _A/N: Just the epilogue to go ..._


	20. Epilogue - The Sorting Hat, Again

_About 11 years later …_

Headmaster Snape tried with some difficulty not to sneer as Hermione stood as proud and happy as Minerva once did as she waited for the 1st Year students to come into the hall to be sorted.

It would be a special year, though, and that thought was enough to bring a small smile to his face as he reached to his right and grabbed Lia's hand. Their daughters, as well his little Rose and … Albus Severus … were among the 1st years to be sorted.

It wasn't completely unprecedented for Professors and even a Headmaster to have their children in school while they were teaching. Severus just never thought it would happen to him. He tightened his hand on Lia's and looked at her beaming face, ready for their girls to sort. If heritage had its way they would probably be in Slytherin. Except …

The door opened with a resounding thud as Hagrid led the group of nervous looking students into the Great Hall. The only three students who didn't look completely terrified were Eileen, Sarah, and Rose – who had all basically grown up in the castle – but even they looked nervous as they shuffled in towards the end of the line.

"Is it just me, or do they look younger every year?" Draco snorted several seats down.

Severus frowned at him, effectively shutting his still bratty mouth up. He watched as Astoria grabbed Draco's hand in hers and tilted his head at him, asking him to be quiet in that subtle way that only couples do.

The two had hit it off again when she agreed to take him as an Apprentice, and they had quietly gotten married a few years later. And when Severus had reluctantly taken the Headmaster's position after Minerva retired, he asked them to share the Potions Master's position, as it would bring them home and give them both time for research.

"Bones, Janessa!" Hermione called out, and the sorting began.

After becoming the school's second MediWitch, Lia had maintained her Co-Head of House position, though she shared it with Draco now. She enjoyed finally getting to know the blond haired cousin she vaguely remembered holding when he was a baby. And Draco … he was just happy to have a connection with his family once again.

"Potter, Albus!"

An unnatural hush went over the Hall. Severus looked up and saw James staring at his brother with great interest from the Gryffindor table. The quiet, yet headstrong little Albus, reminded him of Lily. He'd even inherited her green eyes, which were wide with fear as he sat down on the stool.

Hermione placed the hat on his head, which immediately called out the word "GRYFFINDOR!"

 _No surprise there._

His little red headed girls were getting closer to the front now, both favoring their Grandmother Sarah so greatly that they could have all been sisters, a remark the portrait of Sarah often made whenever they returned to Selwyn Manor. Even down to her red hair … Albus had told him that Fiona and Bianca had inherited his own once auburn hair. He'd seen the girls a number of times now, and still every time, the old portrait would tear up and have to excuse himself for a while before he would come back in frame.

"There they are," Lia whispered, as their girls walked up to their Aunt Hermione hand in hand.

"Snape, Eileen!" Hermione said, smiling as the little girl sat down on the stool as seriously as Severus had when Minerva had called his name.

He could see the hat thinking over her beloved little head and faintly heard her murmur back to it before the hat cried out, "SLYTHERIN!"

This time, he clapped along with the crowd, though Lia's (as always) was the loudest and proudest of the bunch.

"Snape, Sarah!"

Lia's hand on Severus's tightened so much that it reminded him of when she's given birth to her.

Sarah was their wild card. They never knew what would come out of her beloved little mouth – just like her mother. She skipped to the stool and sat down with a flourish as Hermione grinned and dropped the hat on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Severus didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he decided to clap instead as Sarah looked up to her parents, smirking, before joining James and Albus at the Gryffindor table. Hermione looked back at him and winked, mouthing the word, "Mine."

"They would get their way," Lia said, giggling as she placed her hand on Severus's knee.

"I'd imagine her great-grandfather is screaming in his dimension of hell," he whispered.

Lia nodded as she beamed down at both of their daughters, giving them both reassurance about their placement in the Houses.

Before long his sweet little Rose was the only one left, looking very conspicuous with her curly red hair that had been tamed down into a knot at her neck.

"Weasley, Rose!" Hermione called, unable to hide the pride in her voice.

Rose stepped up to the stool and sat upon it, looking back and giving Severus (or "Grumps" as Ron insisted he be called) a nervous glance as Hermione dropped the hat onto her head.

The hat took its time with her, almost as long as it had with Potter and Longbottom. Severus saw Ron standing in the back, talking softly to Hagrid, just has confused as they were.

Weasley's always sorted to Gryffindor, after all.

After a time, Rose finally sighed, "Just do it."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus wanted to bark with laughter when he saw the expressions on Ron and Hermione's faces. While he listened to Lia clap loudly, he mouthed the word, "Mine" right back to Hermione, who scowled as she moved the stool and hat back to their spot by the back door before she took her seat next to him.

"Git," she whispered.

He merely smirked as he stood and kissed the top of Lia's head, trying to figure out how to top that surprise with his opening speech. Lia smiled up at him, mouthing the words, "I love you."

Severus mouthed them back.

Even with a rebellious daughter in Gryffindor, everything was right in the world, indeed.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you all who have reviewed, liked, favorite, and followed. It means the world to me. My first story, finally complete._


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